LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


OF" 


Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  1894. 
Accessions  No.     ~*  -      Cla^s  No. 


sn  Book  S 

148  Clay  st. 

n  Francisc 


THE 


PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING: 


OR, 


THE   POWER,   WISDOM,   AND   GOODNESS   OF   GOD, 

ILLUSTRATED  IN  THE  MULTIPLICITY  AND 

VARIETY  OF  HIS  WORKS. 


BY 


REV.    HOLLIS    READ, 

V    A 

'COMMERCE  AND  CHRISTIANITY,"  ETC. 


"  Who  by  searching  can  find  out  God." 


NEW  YORK : 

0.    SORIBNER,     124    GRAND    STREET. 
1859. 


Kf 


ENTERED  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  by 

CHAELES   SCEIBNEE, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


JOHN  F.  TKOW, 
Prinlor,  Stereotyper,  and  Electrotyper, 

377  &  379  Broadway, 
Cor.  White  Street,  New  York. 


PREFACE. 


IN  offering  to  the  public  another  volume,  the  writer  would  fain 
acknowledge  the  generous  reception  which  his  former  publica- 
tions have  met.  If  these  gleanings  from  a  Pastor's  study — 
of  which  the  present  volume  is  another  instalment — have  not 
the  merit  of  illustrating  some  of  the  great  themes  and  princi- 
ples which  most  vitally  concern  man  here  and  hereafter,  and 
which  display  the  wonder-working  hand  of  Infinite  goodness, 
skill  and  wisdom,  then  let  them  die  the  death — of  all  abortive 
books. 

The  present  volume  is  the  result  of  long  and  careful  inves- 
tigation— a  patient  collocation  of  facts  from  a  great  variety  of 
sources — an  attempt  so  to  combine  amusement  and  instruc- 
tion, the  useful  and  the  entertaining,  as  to  challenge  the  lovers 
of  fiction  to  the  field  of  facts  as  not  the  less  marvellous.  He 
believes  he  has  collected,  within  a  tangible  compass,  an  amount 
of  varied  and  interesting  knowledge  on  the  subjects  treated 
which  will  spare  the  reader  the  trouble  and  expense  of  search- 
ing through  more  libraries  and  books  than  are  likely  to  fall  in 
his  way.  The  writer  will  esteem  it  recompense  enough,  if  he 
may  contribute  any  appreciable  amount  of  influence  to  arrest 
the  current  of  the  reading  world  in  its  strange  revellings  in 


4  PREFACE. 

the  mazes  of  romance.  He  has  endeavored  to  make  a  read- 
able book  of  FACTS,  which  "  are  stranger  than  fiction." 

It  is  a  book  from  the  world  and  for  the  world  we  live  in — 
conducting  the  reader  through  the  museum  of  the  Great  King 
— contemplating  the  Monarch  on  his  throne — his  royal  attire 
— the  crown-jewels  in  all  their  beauty — the  concave  of  his 
Palace  studded  with  ten  thousand  gems — the  robes  of  glory 
he  wears — his  footstool  wrought  in  all  the  skill  and  wisdom 
and  variegated  beauty  which  can  please  the  taste  or  minister 
to  the  pleasure  or  profit  of  man. 

But  we  have  done  more  than  to  survey  the  exterior  of  the 
Temple.  We  have  essayed  to  enter  the  audience-chamber  of 
the  Great  King,  to  search  out  God  in  the  holy  of  holies  of 
the  upper  Sanctuary.  Who  is  this  God  that  worketh  so  won- 
drously?  Can  we  form  any  conception  of  such  mental  re- 
sources— of  such  sleepless  activities — of  such  power,  benevo- 
lence and  skill  ?  In  our  profoundest  searches,  when  we  have 
seemed  to  discover  much,  a  voice  from  the  inner  Temple 
seems,  in  contempt  of  all  human  knowledge,  to  respond  : 
"  Lo  !  these  are  but  parts  of  his  ways  ;  but  how  little  a  por- 
tion is  known  of  him." 

The  character  of  the  writer's  books  already  before  the  pub- 
lic and  the  success  they  have  secured,  he  fondly  hopes,  will 
bespeak  for  the  forthcoming  volume  the  same  generous  re- 
gard. 

CKANEVILLE,  N.  J.,  Sept.,  1859. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

Crystal  Palaces— The  Universe  a  Magnificent  Palace— Endless  Variety  of  the 
Divine  "Workmanship— No  two  Objects  alike— The  Insatiable  Desires  of  the 
Mind— Its  Love  of  Novelty  and  Variety,  ......  9 


CHAPTER  II. 

VARIETIES  GEOLOGICAL  : — The  nice  adjustment  of  particles  composing  the  Earth 
such  as  to  secure  all  our  various  Soils — Productions — Minerals  and  Metals — 
Coal,  Iron— Iron  annihilated,  and  what  then  ?  .  .  .  .24 

CHAPTER  III. 

VARIETIES  GEOGRAPHICAL  :  Cosmogony — The  Earth  as  a  Uniform  Lump — The 
Earth  as  Variegated :  Land,  "Water,  Mountains,  Plains — How  many  things  a 
Man  requires  in  the  Common  Affairs  of  Every-day  Life :  Food,  Apparel, 
House,  and  Implements  of  Labor,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .89 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  ELEMENTARY  PARTICLES  of  Things — Varieties  Chemical — The  same  law  of 
Variety  pervades  the  Atomic  "World — "  Ultimate  Molecules,"  or  Elementary 
Particles — The  Particles  composing  a  Kay  of  Light  or  Drop  of  Water,  .  55 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PAGE 

The  Vegetable  Kingdom :  No  two  Trees,  Plants,  Shrubs  alike — No  two  Leaves, 
Flowers,  Seeds,  or  Fruits— The  Natures,  Qualities,  and  Uses,  how  different. 
—The  Abundance  of  Vegetable  Productions— All  formed  of  a  few  Elemen- 
tary Substances.  .........  74 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM— The  Scale  of  Life  -The  "Vast  Chain  of  Being1'  • 
The  Animal  World  a  Counterpart  of  the  Vegetable,  .  .  .  .  90 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM:  Species  of  Animals— Individual  Varieties— Organs  of 
Locomotion— Legs,  Wings,  Eyes,  Ears,  Noses— Clothing— Habitations- 
Weapons  of  Defence— The  Feathered  Tribes,  .  .  .  .  .104 

CHAPTER  VIIL 

The  Animal  Kingdom — The  Microscopic  World  :  Variety  of  Temperament — Sa- 
gacity—Activity— Precocity— Productiveness—  Migrations  of  Animals— Fish- 
es, ..  . 123 

CHAPTER  IX. 

MAN— His  Physical  Varieties— External  Form— Color  of  Skin— Mechanism— The 
eye — Organs  for  Breathing;  Digestion,  Secretion;  Nerves,  Blood-vessels — 
Voice— Upright  Position— The  Wrist  and  Hand— Jenny  Lind's  Voice,  .  142 

CHAPTER  X. 
Human  Skill  and  Workmanship,          .  .          .          .          .          .          .163 

CHAPTER  XL 

MAN  :  All  sorts  of  Men  to  make  a  World— Characteristics  and  Idiosyncrasies,     .  175 

CHAPTER  XH. 

VARIETIES  INTELLECTUAL  :  Many  Men  of  many  Minds,  or  all  sorts  of  Minds 
make  a  World,  ,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .186 


CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER 

%  PAGB 

Man  and  Ms  Varieties,  in  his  endlessly-diversified  conditions  of  life,         .          .  204 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

ASTRONOMICAL  VABIETIES:  No  two  "Worlds  alike— Differ  in  Form,  Bulk,  Mo- 
tion—Inhabitants— Moral  Varieties  among  Worlds — Kedemption  the  Grand 
Moral  Variety  of  our  "World,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .215 

CHAPTER  XV. 

How  it  takes  all  sorts  of  Saints  to  make  a  Heaven,      .          .          .          .          .241 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

VARIETY  IN  DIVINE  TEUTH,  as  suited  to  produce  Variety  in  Christian  Character 
and  Experience,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .256 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

How  various  the  dealings  of  Providence  by  which  men  are  brought  to  the  Sa- 
viour—and how  various  the  manner  by  which  the  means  of  grace  in  dif- 
ferent individuals  are  made  effectual,  ......  269 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Man's  varied  wants :  Food — Clothing — Habitation — Luxuries.  Land,  Sea,  Mine, 
Forest,  Kiver  taxed  to  supply  these  wants.  Mental  Wants,— Moral  "Wants,  .  283 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

MAN  designed  and  adapted  to  a  high  State  of  Civilization  in  this  Life,  and  a  high 
State  of  Exaltation  and  Glory  in  the  Life  to  come :  or,  THE  MODEL  MAN,  .  298 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  SAME  SUBJECT  :  Examples  of  extraordinary  development  among  men,  as 
pledges  of  his  high  future  destiny— Nature,  Providence  and  Eevelation  in- 
dicate this  same  high  destiny— Man  capacitated  to  appropriate  the  pro- 
visions made  for  his  progress,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .811 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  MIND  OF  GOD  :  The  Infinitude  of  the  Perceptions  and  Ideas  in  the  Divine 
Mind, .329 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  Divine  Complacency — The  Happiness  of  God  in  the  Contemplation  of  his 
Works  and  his  Ways,  and  his  own  Attributes  and  Character,  .  .  .  845 

CHAPTER  XXIIL 

God  in  all  and  over  all— Giving  Life  and  Breath  and  all  things— Inspired  De- 
scriptions of  God — How  such  views  of  God  should  affect  us,  .  .  .  363 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

CONCLUSION  :  The  claims  of  Natural  Eeligion— The  origin  of  False  Keligions— 
Their  Philosophy  and  History— Keasons  for  one  common  universal  Keligion, 
and  that  Christianity,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .884 


THE 


PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Crystal  Palaces— The  Universe  a  Magnificent  Palace— Endless  Variety  of  the  Divine 
Workmanship— No  two  Objects  alike— The  Insatiable  Desires  of  the  Mind— Its 
Love  of  Novelty  and  Variety. 

THE  present  is  the  age  of  Crystal  Palaces.  The  people  of 
one  nation  are  vying  with  those  of  another  which  shall  raise 
the  most  magnificent  dome  and  construct  the  most  superb  pal 
ace  for  the-  "  exhibition  of  the  skill  and  industry  of  all  nations." 
As  you  pass  through  one  of  these  stately  edifices,  you  are  as- 
tonished at  the  skill  and  power  as  seen  displayed  in  the  struc- 
ture and  dimensions  of  the  building  itself;  and  yet  more  at 
the  variety  and  multiplicity  of  the  objects  it  contains.  Here 
are  the  products  and  specimens  of  the  skill  not  only  of  all  na- 
tions, but  of  every  variety  and  degree  of  "individual  taste  and 
talent.  Here  are  met  the  most  rare,  the  most  ingeniously 
wrought,  and  the  most  valuable,  useful  and  ornamental  fabrics 
that  are  to  be  found  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  or  made  by  the 
hand  of  man  :  "  Shawls  from  India,  robes  from  Russia,  and  the 
bornoose  from  Africa,  and  linens,  and  silks,  and  fabrics  of  the 
finest  texture  and  the  most  wonderful  workmanship." 


10  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   GREAT  KING. 

The  Universe  is  the  Palace  of  the  Great  King.  The  skill 
and  power  engaged  in  the  rearing  and  fitting  up  of  this  wonder- 
ful palace  as  far  surpasses  all  human  skill  and  power  as  the 
Creator  surpasses  the  creature.  This  is  Heaven's  exposition  of 
arts  for  all  nations — and  for  all  the  principalities  and  powers — 
for  all  the  orders  of  intelligent  beings  which  inhabit  the  Uni- 
verse. In  beauty,  variety  and  multiplicity  of  objects ;  in  exu- 
berance of  the  imagination,  and  in  the  exquisiteness  of  the 
workmanship,  it  surpasses  the  utmost  stretch  of  all  human  con- 
ception. 

We  invite  the  reader  to  accompany  us  into  this  august  Pal- 
ace, and  to  contemplate  some  of  its  wonders..  As  we  enter  the 
great  Temple,  we  find  ourselves  encompassed  on  every  side  by 
the  works  and  productions  of  Nature  in  forms  infinitely  diversi- 
fied. It  would  seem  as  if  even  Divine  skill  had  been  exhausted 
in  the  formation  of  the  multiplicity  and  variety  of  objects  pro- 
duced. 

In  our  proposed  visit  to  the  Palace,  we  will  make  the  spe- 
cial object  of  our  researches  the  variety  of  the  Divine  Work- 
manship. As  we  pass  from  one  department  to  another,  we 
shall  meet  nothing  more  profoundly  to  admire  than  the  endless 
variety  which  pervades  the  whole. 

We  contemplate  with  wonder  the  magnitude  of  the  works 
of  the  Great  Architect ;  or  the  multiplicity  of  these  works  ;  or 
we  penetrate  into  the  wonders  of  the  microscopic  world,  and 
we  are  filled  with  wonder  no  less  profound.  Indeed,  I  scarcely 
know  whether  the  student  of  Nature  the  more  profoundly  ad- 
mires the. magnitude,  the  multiplicity  or  the  minuteness  of  the 
Divine  workmanship.  In  the  contemplation  of  either  he  can 
only  wonder  and  adore,  but  cannot  comprehend. 


VASTNESS    OF   THE   UNIVEESE.  11 

Directing  his  thoughts  to  the  vastness  of  the  material  universe, 
to  the  inconceivably  great  quantity  of  matter  which  composes  the 
countless  number  of  worlds  which  fill  infinite  space,  he  finds 
himself  conducted  to  the  outermost  limit  of  human  observation, 
and  even  of  human  conception  ;  yet  he  meets  no  evidence  that 
he  approaches  any  limit  of  creation.  We  can  form  no  adequate 
idea  of  material  existences.  When  he  has  traversed  space 
as  far  as  he  can  by  the  aid  of  the  most  powerful  telescope ; 
and  when  he  has  exhausted  all  his  capabilities  of  calculation, 
he  seems  scarcely  to  have  crossed  the  threshold  of  God's  great 
material  Temple.  He  can  make  no  adequate  estimate  of  the 
amount  of  material  which  God  has  called  into  existence. 
Were  he  to  travel  through  space  millions  of  millions  of  miles, 
and  take  his  station  on  the  remotest  star,  the  least  twinkling 
ray  of  which  reaches  us,  he  would  see  space  beyond  him  equal 
to  that  which  he  had  already  traversed,  and  equally  radiant  with 
shining  worlds.  His  own  native  earth  is  in  comparison  but  as 
a  grain  of  sand  on  the  sea-shore.  He  can  form  no  conception 
of  a  Being  possessed  with  power  adequate  first  to  bring  into 
existence,  and  then  to  reduce  to  law,  and  govern  so  many  and 
such  vast  worlds. 

But  if  we  pass  from  the  magnitude  to  the  minuteness  of 
God's  works,  we  are,  if  possible,  lost  jin  still  greater  wonder. 
It  comports  more  readily  with  our  preconceived  notions  of  the 
Infinite  One,  that  he  should  do  magnificently  great  things 
than  that  he  should  do  exquisitely  little  things.  We  expect 
Omnipotence  to  exert  great  power,  and  to  work  on  a  magnifi- 
cent plan.  But  when  we  descend  into  the  microscopic  world, 
and  contemplate  the  teeming,  countless  millions  of  minute  liv- 
ing beings,  and  animalcules,  so  minute  that  myriads  are  not 


12  THE  PALACE   OF   THE   GEEAT  KING. 

larger  than  a  grain  of  sand,  and  may  inhabit  a  drop  of  water, 
— and  when  we  see  these  minutest  of  all  living  atoms,  finished 
with  a  most  exquisite  touch  of  skill  and  beauty,  our  admiration 
of  the  Divine  workmanship  is,  if  possible,  raised  still  higher. 
We  now  become  sensible  of  a  skill  and  delicacy  of  workman- 
ship which  transcends  all  our  highest  conceptions  of  the  Great 
Architect. 

The  microscope  reveals  to  the  astonished  eye  an  invisible 
world  of  living  beings  ;  and  all  these,  though  their  existence 
may  not  be  detected  by  the  naked  eye,  are  endued  with  organs 
for  locomotion,  for  hearing  and  seeing ;  with  nerves  and  blood- 
vessels, and  the  means  of  procuring  and  digesting  their  food 
and  reproducing  their  species.  And  they  present  every  con- 
ceivable variety  of  motion,  form,  size  and  color.  How  wonderful 
the  skill  that  decked  the  wing  of  one  of  these  marvellously 
minute  little  atoms  of  creation,  and  set  the  blood  coursing  in 
its  veins. 

And  wonderful  as  the  discoveries  of  the  microscope  are, 
there  is  no  intimation  that  they  approach  a  limit.  As  at  the 
other  extreme  of  creation,  every  new  power  added  to  the  tele- 
scope opens  new  fields  of  space  still  radiant  with  shining 
worlds;  and  then  beyond  the  scope  of  telescopic  vision  lie  un- 
tra versed  fields,  which,  if  viewed  with  a  more  powerful  tele- 
scope, would  reveal  new  systems  and  groups  of  worlds  ;  so  no 
power  that  has  hitherto  been  applied  to  the  microscope  has 
failed  to  reveal  new  worlds  of  animalcules.  Every  new  dis- 
covery only  serves  to  confirm  the  conjecture  that  a  more  power- 
ful instrument  would  unfold  new  worlds  of  wonder  beyond. 

While  we  mean  by  the  Universe,  which  we  have  called  the 
Palace  of  the  Great  King,  the  grand  summary  of  all  the  worlds 


MULTIPLICITY   AND   ENDLESS   VARIETY.  13 

which  God  has  made,  and  all  the  endless  multiplicity  of  objects, 
animate  and  inanimate,  vegetable  and  mineral,  with  which  the 
Great  Architect  has  furnished  these  worlds,  yet  we  do  not  pro- 
pose to  launch  forth  into  so  boundless  a  field  for  illustrations 
of  our  present  theme,  but  shall  confine  ourselves  chiefly  to  one 
small  world,  and  for  obvious  reasons  we  shall  select  the  planet 
with  which  we  happen  to  be  the  best  acquainted.  The  globe, 
called  Earth,  shall  serve  as  the  Palace  through  whose  strangely 
diversified  products  of  art  and  skill  we  will  make  a  few  desul- 
tory excursions,  seeking  illustrations  of  the  wisdom,  goodness 
and  power  of  God:  not  so  much  from  the  magnitude  and 
minuteness  of  his  works  as  from  their  multiplicity  and  endless 
variety.  Yet  we  shall  not  overlook  the  broad,  starry  concave 
of  this  earthly  palace — the  great  dome  of  Heaven,  studded 
with  ten  thousand  stars,  and  thence  stretching  off  into  bound- 
less space  as  far  as  thought  can  travel. 

As  we  compare  the  heavenly  bodies,  system  with  system, 
star  with  star,  and  planet  with  planet,  we  shall  discover  the 
same  infinite  variety  pervading  the  whole. 

The  field  of  illustration  is  as  broad  as  the  entire  arena  of 
nature's  works.  The  mineral,  the  vegetable,  the  animal  worlds, 
are  replete  with  examples  to  our  purpose ;  so  is  the  condition 
and  history  of  man,  the  ordinary  dispensations  of  Providence, 
and  the  means  of  man's  recovery  from  the  fall.  All  indicate 
the  profuse  expenditure  of  the  Divine  goodness  so  to  diversify 
and  beautify  his  works  and  to  vary  his  ways,  as  the  most 
effectually  to  secure  the  happiness  of  his  intelligent  creatures. 
Who  but  God  would  have  thought  of  the  ten  thousand  ways 
he  has  adopted  by  which  to  make  man  happy  ? 

Our  subject  is  a  pleasant  one,  and  well  suited  to  ministei 


14          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

to  the  entertainment  of  the  observant  mind.  But  we  have,  in 
the  following  chapters,  a  higher  aim.  We  hope  to  raise  the 
mind  to  Nature's  God,  and  to  present  him  as  a  kind,  benevo- 
lent, infinitely  wise,  and  wonder-working  Father,  who  is  ever 
busy,  even  in  the  most  inconceivably  minute,  and  apparently 
insignificant  domains  of  creation.  We  most  devoutly  wish  to 
leave  impressed  on  the  mind  of  the  reader  the  sentiment  that 
such  a  God  is  worthy  of  the  profoundest  homage,  of  unbounded 
admiration  and  unfeigned  love.  Such  contemplations  on  the 
workmanship  of  the  Divine  hand  can  scarcely  fail  to  give  us 
the  most  exalted  idea  of  the  skill,  and  wisdom,  and  benevo- 
lence of  the  great  Author  of  creation.  He  not  only  makes  and 
finishes  every  thing  with  an  exquisite  touch,  which  will  bear 
the  closest  scrutiny,  and  creates  an  endless  number  of  objects, 
from  the  most  inconceivably  minute  to  the  most  stupendously 
grand,  but  he  makes  all  things  in  such  strange  and  endless 
diversity.  No  two  objects  have  ever  been  found  to  be  alike. 
And  not  only  no  two  objects  that  exist  at  any  one  time  are 
alike,  but  judging  from  the  only  premises  we  have  on  the 
subject,  we  may  reasonably  raise  the  query  whether  any  two 
objects  that  ever  existed  from  the  beginning  of  creation,  or 
that  ever  shall  exist,  are  precisely  alike.  So  exhaustless  are 
the  conceptions  of  the  Divine  mind,  and  so  boundless  his  skill 
and  power,  that  no  two  individuals  of  any  species  of  animals, 
vegetables,  or  minerals,  or  any  created  existences,  are  ever 
found  to  be  alike'.  In  the  human  race,  for  example,  though 
so  marked  uniformity  everywhere  characterizes  the  race  that 
there  is  no  fear  of  mistaking  the  human  animal  for  an  animal 
of  any  other  species,  yet  no  two  individuals  that  now  live,  or 
ever  did,  or  ever  shall  live  on  the  globe,  are  alike.  And, 


RESOURCES   OF  THE  DIVINE  MIND.  15 

perhaps,  if  due  examination  could  be  made,  it  would  be  found 
that  in  no  one  particular  are  they  alike — in  no  organ,  or 
feature,  or  member,  or  development  of  mind,  or  of  moral 
qualities  or  affections.  And  such  being  the  fact  in  respect  to 
all  the  races  of  beings  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  we  are 
justified  in  the  inference  that  it  is  so  throughout  the  boundless 
realms  of  creation.  Variety  is  an  essential  characteristic  of 
the  works  of  the  Divine  hand.  It  equally  decks  the  wing  of 
the  tiniest  insect  that  sports  in  a  single  drop  of  water,  and  is 
met  in  the  form,  and  motion,  and  magnitude  of  the  hugest 
orb  that  rolls  through  space. 

But  what  an  idea  does  this  give  us,  at  the  very  outset,  of 
the  exhaustless  resources  of  the  Divine  mind  !  The  Author  of 
the  whole  magnificent  machinery  of  nature,  and  He  that  up- 
holds and  directs  the  whole,  and  makes  all  its  numberless 
parts,  the  minutest  as  well  as  the  mightiest,  to  harmonize,  must 
at  the  same  moment  have  the  whole,  in  all  its  infinite  details, 
present  to  his  mind.  We  wonder  at  the  capabilities  of  the 
man  who  can  with  ease  attend  to  all  the  details  of  a  great 
business — who  can  plan,  meet  contingencies  the  most  un- 
expected, direct  the  minds  and  labors  of  a  great  number  of 
men,  and  make  agencies  the  most  various  and  apparently 
adverse  all  harmonize  to  achieve  his  one  great  aim — who  can, 
at  the  same  time,  dictate  a  correspondence  to  agents  abroad, 
and  foresee  there  the  casualties  of  business  or  trade,  and  meet 
contingencies  which  may  occur  thousands  of  miles  distant — who 
has  within  his  own  measure  a  sort  of  omniscience  and  omnipo- 
tence. His  active,  busy,  intelligent  mind  is  the  main-spring 
that  sets  in  motion  and  directs  every  wheel  of  the  great  manu- 
factory, or  that  guides,  in  all  its  thousand  details,  the  great 


16  THE  PALACE   OP  THE   GEEAT  KING. 

mercantile  house.  It  is  his  mind  that  guides  the  hand  of 
every  clerk,  agent  or  workman.  By  night  and  by  day, 
whether  corporeally  present  or  absent,  his  power  is  felt,  his 
watchful  eye  is  there — he  has,  as  it  were,  diffused  himself 
through  the  whole.  But  all  comparison  fails  to  illustrate  the 
never-ceasing,  the  infinitely  comprehensive  activity  of  the 
Divine  mind. 

The  globe  which  we  inhabit  is  but  one  of  a  countless  num- 
ber of  similar  globes,  some  of  which  (as  Jupiter)  are  fourteen 
hundred  times  larger  than  ours ;  or  if  compared  with  the  sun, 
or  some  other  fixed  star,  its  magnitude  falls  into  insignificance, 
the  sun  being  one  million  three  hundred  thousand  times  larger 
than  the  earth.  Yet  for  a  moment  suppose  our  globe  the  only 
world  which  God  has  made,  still  what  an  idea  do  we  get  of  the 
Eternal  Mind. 

We  select  the  period  when  he  was  about  to  enter  upon  the 
creation  of  our  world.  A  perfect  conception  of  the  whole 
scheme  must  have  lain  in  the  mind  of  the  Eternal  One :  the 
exact  quantity  of  matter  of  which  it  was  to  consist ;  the  struc- 
ture of  the  whole,  so  as  to  form  the  dry  land  and  the  ocean, 
the  river  and  the  mountain,  the  plain  and  the  valley,  all  in 
their  relative  proportions  and  influences  on  one  another ;  the 
placing  of  every  particle,  even  the  minutest,  so  as  to  form  the 
rock,  the  soil,  the  endless  variety  of  trees,  shrubs,  plants, 
grains  and  grasses ;  as  also,  the  mineral,  the  metal,  and  the 
precious  stone.  He  must,  too,  at  the  same  time,  have  seen 
and  determined  the  shape  of  every  leaf,  the  tint  of  every  flower, 
the  form,  and  size,  and  properties  of  every  particle  of  inani- 
mate matter,  and  the  number  and  variety,  the  organs  and 
functions  of  all  grades  of  animal  life — all  were  vivid  and  per- 


ITS   NICE   CALCULATIONS.  17 

feet  conceptions  in  the  mind  of  the  Creator  while  as  yet  they 
were  not  made. 

We  are  lost  in  utter  amazement  when  we  attempt  to  form  any 
idea  of  God  as  the  author  and  the  controller  of  the  wonderful 
system  of  nature.  Both  in  their  original  creation  and  in  their 
subsequent  control,  what  a  vast  multiplicity  of  objects  required 
a  constant  attention ;  what  nice  calculations  to  have  adjusted 
in  their  respective  places  every  body  that  rolls  in  grandeur 
over  the  boundless  fields  of  ether,  and  every  minute  speck  that 
floats  in  the  air  ;  and  to  have  adapted  each  to  the  other,  so  as 
to  secure  the  balance  of  the  whole,  and  preserve  the  harmony 
of  the  universal  systepa.  For  the  size  and  weight  of  the 
tiniest  flower  that  decks  the  solitary  glen,  and  the  number  and 
dimensions  of  the  minutest  insect,  as  well  as  the  location  of  a 
mighty  river,  or  the  structure  of  the  loftiest  mountain,  or  the 
hollowing  out  of  the  channel  of  the  sea,  are  equally  the  work 
of  the  Almighty,  and  equally  require  his  sleepless  care. 
Nothing  short  of  Omnipotence  and  Omniscience  could  do 
either. 

And  what  a  boundless  field  has  God  opened  in  the  infinite 
diversity  of  his  works  for  the  unrestricted  scope  of  mind, 
whether  in  the  present  state  of  existence  or  in  the  next !  He 
has  been  pleased  to  vary  his  works  so  as  to  please  the  eye,  to 
gratify,  to  regale  the  mind,  and  to  improve  the  heart.  Variety, 
I  have  said,  everywhere  characterizes  the  Divine  workmanship. 
The  number  of  species  and  sub-species,  where  there  is  a  marked 
difference,  is  immense ;  but  the  moment  you  attempt  to  search 
out  varieties  of  the  same  species  you  find  yourself  treading  on 
the  confines  of  infinitude.  Here  there  will  be  found  no  two 
objects  alike,  not  two  blades  of  grass  from  the  same  root,  or 


18          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

two  leaves  of  the  same  tree,  or  two  peas  from  the  same 
stock.  So  endlessly  diversified  are  the  .,  -/st  ct-jamon  objects 
of  nature,  that  you  may  ransack  the  three  kingdoms  without 
finding  two  the  same.  Variety  is  the  order  of  all  things. 

And  love  of  variety  is  but  coextensive  with  the  endlessly 
diversified  means  and  objects  of  its  gratification.  There  is  the 
love  of  variety  in  taste,  in  seeing,  in  hearing,  in  smelling  and  in 
touch.  How  would  either  of  these,  senses  tire  with  sameness  1 
Who  could  endure  seeing,  tasting,  smelling  or  touching  the 
same  objects  perpetually  ?  But  there  can  be  no  such  satiety. 
The  provisions  for  the  gratification  of  the  senses  are  as  varied 
as  their  wants.  The  eye  which  is  never  satisfied  with  seeing,  is 
regaled  with  a  succession  of  diversified  objects ;  the  taste  with 
every  needed  variety.  And  so  we  may  say  of  the  ear  or  of  any 
other  organ  of  sense.  Sounds  are  vastly  more  diversified  than 
even  the  objects  which  produce  them :  as  the  same  object  may 
generate  different  sounds  as  well  as  different  degrees  of  sound. 
Indeed,  the  mind,  through  the  organs  of  sense,  may  expatiate 
forever  amidst  new  natures,  combinations  and  relations,  and 
never  return  and  retrace  its  steps  for  the  want  of  new  objects. 
Nor  need  we  stop  here.  We  may  pass  from  man's  circum- 
scribed and  transient  state  here  to  his  higher  and  holier  state 
hereafter,  and  we  shall  probably  find  the  same  principle  not  the 
less  delightfully  operative.  The  anthem  sung  in  those  blessed 
mansions,  is,  "  Great  and  marvellous  are  thy  works,  Lord  God 
Almighty." 

And  not  only. is  it  probable  that  no  two  objects  belonging 
to  our  little  planet  are  alike,  but  the  same  strangely  wondrous 
feature,  doubtless,  characterizes  the  boundless  fields  of  creation. 
God  probably  never  cast  two  things  in  the  same  mould. 


INNATE  LOVE  OF  NOVELTY.  19 

And,  as  a  divine  arrangement,  this  love  of  variety  in  the 
future  world  and  the  provisions  made  for  its  gratification,  are 
certainly  not  less  interesting  than  that  of  which  I  have  spoken. 
Indeed,  it  is  but  the  exact  and  beautiful  counterpart  of  that 
variety.  Man,  both  as  to  his  mind,  and  his  moral  tastes  and 
aspirations,  is  so  constituted  as  to  be  continually  reaching  after 
some  new  thing.  He  feels  an  insatiable  desire  for  novelty. 
And  this  propensity  is  observed  to  increase  in  proportion  as 
man  advances  in  civilization  and  knowledge.  The  untutored 
savage  has  very  little  of  it.  Its  development  is  sometimes  de- 
nominated curiosity — sometimes  inquisitiveness,  or  the  love  of 
knowledge.  It  is  the  natural  outgoing  of  the  mind  for  some 
new  thing.  This  was  a  characteristic  of  the  refined  Athenians 
and  of  the  "strangers" — the  philosophers  and  literati  per- 
chance— that  resorted  to  this  renowned  spot  of  ancient  civiliza- 
tion and  learning.  "  They  spent  their  time  in  nothing  else, 
but  either  to  tell,  or  to  hear  some  new  thing."  The  desires 
of  the  mind  are  insatiable,  and  increase  in  proportion  to  their 
gratification.  When  it  has  traversed  one  field,  however  im- 
mense and  varied  that  may  be,  it  instantly  craves  another. 
The  acquisition  of  one  science  or  an  acquaintance  with  one  art 
only  sharpens  the  mind  for  another ;  and  the  greater  its  ac- 
quisitions, the  stronger  its  desires  for  further  conquests.  Bacon 
or  Newton  had  a  thousand  ungratified  desires  in  respect  to  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  where  the  mere  ignoramus  has  one. 
And  we  are  constrained  to  believe  that  the  same  increased  and 
inciting  desires  characterize  the  highest  created  intelligences  in 
the  universe,  and  the  same  boundless  fields  invite  their  eternal 
researches. 

This  reaching  forward  continually  after  some  new  thing  or 


20          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GKEAT  KING. 

something  not  yet  attained  to — this  dissatisfaction  with  any 
present  acquisitions  or  enjoyments — this  love  of  variety,  is  a 
constituent  element  in  the  mental  and  moral  constitution  of  all 
intelligent  beings,  both  men  and  angels — an  essential  part  of 
their  being ;  and  it  forms  for  man  a  connecting  link  between  his 
present  and  his  future  state  of  being.  And  not  only  so,  but  it 
indicates  what  shall  be  the  mental,  and  (if  I  may  say  so)  the 
physical  character  and  condition  of  that  state  of  being,  and 
what,  in  fact,  the  enjoyments  and  employments  of  the  blessed 
above.  Through  all  the  endless  multiplicity  of  objects  here  the 
mind  may  wonder  and  the  heart  expatiate  and  return  dissatis- 
fied. Were  it  possible  that  a  single  individual  of  our  race 
should  visit  every  nation  and  tribe — every  nook  and  corner  of 
our  globe,  and  become  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  geography, 
the  history,  the  botany  and  mineralogy  of  each — in  a  word, 
were  he  to  know  all  of  every  science  and  art,  and  of  every 
thing  that  may  be  known  in  this  mundane  sphere,  and  in  this 
corporeal  state,  would  the  eye  be  satisfied  with  seeing,  or  the  ear 
with  hearing  ?  would  the  mind  be  satisfied,  and  the  aspirations 
of  the  soul  find  their  fulness  ?  Or  rather,  would  not  such  a 
mind  feel  that  all  its  past  acquisitions  were  no  more  than  pre- 
liminary to  the  acquisitions  to  be  made  in  the  boundless  field  of 
eternity  ?  At  every  step  of  his  stupendous  progress  till  he 
reached  the  grand  acme  of  all  possible  human  knowledge,  his 
desires  for  something  unattained  were  sure  to  keep  in  advance 
of  his  acquisitions,  so  that  when  he  had  arrived  at  the  grand 
climacteric  of  all  that  may  be  known  on  this  earth,  these  long- 
ings for  new  fields  of  knowledge  were  found  to  be  increased  in 
a  ratio  equal  to  all  former  acquisitions. 

It  is  only  in  the  future  abode  of  the  blessed  that  all  these 


THE   HEAVENLY  FIELD.  21 

desires  can  be  gratified,  and  the  soul,  so  singularly  capacitated, 
shall  find  a  boundless  range  for  its  expanded  and  ever  expand- 
ing faculties  and  susceptibilities. 

But  will  the  spirit,  thus  endowed,  when  emancipated  from 
the  disabilities  of  earth  and  time,  have  a  field  for  the  further 
expansion  and  the  perfect  gratification  of  these  insatiable  de- 
sires for  something  new  ?  The  following  pages,  we  trust,  will 
afford  at  least  a  partial  answer  to  this  interesting  inquiry. 
The  great  theme  of  contemplation  and  research  and  admiration 
among  the  blissful  inhabitants  of  heaven,  is  the  "  works  "  and 
the  "  ways  "  of  God ;  or  rather  GOD  as  seen  and  known  in  his 
works  and  ways.  In  proportion,  then,  as  our  facts  and  reason- 
ings go  to  show  that  the  works  of  the  Divine  hand  are  bound- 
less in  extent,  and  strangely  and  endlessly  diversified,  they  will 
furnish  a  pleasing  evidence  of  the  benevolence  and  wisdom 
of  the  Deity ;  first,  that  he  should  so  singularly  endow  the  hu- 
man mind,  and  then,  that  he  should,  with  such  exhaustless 
liberality,  fit  up  the  universe  with  such  a  rich  and  boundless 
profusion  of  objects,  and  in  all  that  unending  variety,  which 
can,  to  endless  ages,  give  to  the  mind  its  full  fruition  of  knowl- 
edge and  bliss. 

But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  does  the  human  mind  in  its  pres- 
ent condition,  give  signs  of  being  possessed  of  faculties  which 
shall  require  any  greater  range  for  its  employment  and  gratifi- 
cation than  it  now  has  ?  It  undoubtedly  does.  We  have  only 
to  reflect  for  a  moment  how  much  the  mind  of  the  intelligent 
man  and  the  advanced  scholar  does  grasp  and  retain  in  his 
present  condition.  When  he  has  traversed  in  his  investigations 
all  the  nations  and  countries  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  has 
stored  his  mind  with  ten  thousand  facts  and  ideas  relating  to 


22  THE  PALACE   OF  THE  GBEAT  KING. 

the  history,  traditions,  manners,  customs  of  .every  nation  and 
tribe,  and  has  become  acquainted  with  the  whole  circle  of 
human  sciences,  arts,  literature,  inventions  and  discoveries,  he 
feels  no  confusion — no  repletion — no  lack  of  capacity  for  more 
knowledge.  All  he  has  acquired  has  only  sharpened  his  appe- 
tite, and  enlarged  his  capacity  for  still  greater  supplies.  From 
all  we  know  and  can  discover  of  its  capacities  here,  we  can  con- 
ceive of  no  limit  beyond  which  the  human  mind  may  not  go. 
Such  capacities  can  find  their  counterpart  only  in  the  infinite 
multiplicity  and  the  endlessly  diversified  character  of  the  entire 
creation ;  and  with  an  endless  duration  for  their  study. 

Ask  Newton,  Locke,  Edwards,  if,  irr  their  respective  fields 
of  research,  and  after  their  vast  accumulations  of  knowledge, 
they  seemed  to  be  nearing  a  boundary  beyond  which  they  did 
not  care  to  pass,  or  beyond  which  their  exhausted  capacities  did 
not  seem  sufficient  to  carry  them.  They  will  rather  tell  you 
that  they  seemed  scarcely  to  have  embarked  at  all  on  the 
boundless  ocean.  They  stood  upon  the  shore,  surveyed  tke 
illimitable  expanse  before  them — were  impelled  by  increasing- 
ly strong  desires  to  launch  away ;  and  never  before  did  they 
feel  themselves  so  capable  of  adventurous  voyage.  They 
needed  only  to  be  emancipated  from  the  bondage  of  corporeity, 
in  order  to  enter  upon  their  eternal  range  in  fields  which  know 
no  bounds. 

I  design  in  the  present  essay  to  speak  of  varieties  geolo- 
gical and  geographical ;  varieties  physical,  mental  and  moral. 
Man,  in  his  diversified  relations  and  conditions,  will  furnish  a 
rich  and  interesting  field  of  illustration.  The  whole  boundless 
world  of  life,  animal  and  vegetable,  is  as  varied  as  it  is  exten- 
sive. The  "  ways  of  God  " — another  name  for  Providence — 


OUR  FIELD   OF  ILLUSTBATION".  23 

are,  as  we  shall  see,  as  varied  as  his  works.  And  varieties  as- 
tronomical will  not  form  the  least  interesting  portion  of  our  as- 
signed task.  Heaven's  star-spangled  concave  is  set  with  gems, 
which,  in  their  sublime  variety,  equal  the  whole  number  of 
stars  that  shine  in  the  firmament. 

And  not  the  less  to  be  admired,  as  we  shall  see,  are  the 
means  which  the  God  of  Nature  has  provided  for  the  production 
and  support  of  variety  both  in  the  mental  and  moral  as  well  as 
in  the  animal  and  vegetable  worlds.  Different  soils  and  sur- 
faces, different  climates  and  conditions  of  the  earth,  all  com- 
bine to  produce  such  a  variety  of  vegetation  ;  and  this  variety 
of  vegetation,  combined  with  soil,  surface  and  climate,  goes,  in 
turn,  to  increase  animal  varieties.  And  not  only  variety  is  a 
characteristic  of  all  created  things,  but  we  everywhere  discover 
a  singular  tendency  in  nature  to  produce  variety. 

We  shall  begin  with  varieties  geological. 


CHAPTER    II. 

VABIETTES  GEOLOGICAL  :— The  nice  adjustment  of  particles  composing  the  Earth 
such  as  to  secure  all  our  various  Soils — Productions — Minerals  and  Metals — Coal, 
Iron — Iron  annihilated,  and  what  then  ? 

WHEN  we  speak  of  the  creation  of  our  world,  and  the  fit- 
ting it  up  for  the  habitation  of  man,  we  may  still  have  very  in- 
adequate notions  of  the  work  in  question ;  and  we  are  per- 
haps in  more  danger  of  overlooking  the  wisdom  and  benevolence 
involved  in  th&  plan  than  we  are  the  power  engaged  in  the  exe- 
cution. All  had  to  be  formed  with  the  nicest  regard  to  pro- 
portions, adaptations  and  adjustments.  We  admire  the  skill 
of  a  mechanist  who  can  so  arrange  even  a  few  scores  of  wheels 
as  to  secure  some  unusually  beneficial  end.  Such  a  machine 
may  extend  over  a  few  square  perches  of  ground  and  may  ac- 
complish eminently  beneficial  purposes.  How  much  profound 
thinking — how  many  nice  calculations — how  many  experi- 
ments has  our  machinist  been  obliged  to  perform,  and  how 
many  failures  to  experience,  before  he  could  bring  his  work  to 
any  thing  like  a  tolerable  state  of  completeness.  At  its  best 
estate  it  would  have  no  perfection ;  and  the  power  and  the 
quantity  of  matter  employed,  would  be  but  as  a  grain  of  sand 
compared  to  the  power  and  quantity  of  matter  employed  in  the 
structure  and  motions  of  the  earth  only.  But  what  is  this 
when  compared  with  the  structure  and  successful  operation  of  a 


THE  PKOPOBTIONING   OF   THINGS.  25 

machine  as  boundless  and  complicated  as  the  whole  MATERIAL 
UNIVERSE  ! 

The  exact  size,  weight,  motion,  velocity  and  density  of 
every  star  and  planet,  and  every  particle  of  matter,  however 
small,  were  all  calculated  and  determined  on  before  a  single 
thing  could  be  created — the  exact  distance  of  one  from  another, 
and  the  precise  relation  of  every  separate  particle  to  another 
and  to  the  whole — how  many  particles  should  compose  the 
leaf  of  the  violet — what  should  be  the  precise  mechanism  of  the 
eye  of  the  molecule,  or  what  the  dimensions  of  the  planet  Ju- 
piter. A  failure  of  any  single  part,  however  minute,  would 
derange  the  entire  system. 

But  we  propose  to  ourselves  in  the  present  chapter  no  such 
adventurous  range.  Not  the  structure  of  the  Universe,  but  the 
structure  and  some  of  the  compositions  of  the  earth,  will  suffice 
for  our  present  illustration. 

Had  the  earth,  all  below  the  surface,  been  formed  one  ho- 
mogeneous mass,  and  the  surface  one  uniform  soil,  and  its  po 
sition  in  its  orbit,  and  the  inclination  of  its  axis  to  the  equa- 
tor been  such  as  to  produce  but  one  uniform  season,  however 
salubrious  that  season  might  be,  and  however  rich  that  soil, 
and  however  precious  the  material  of  which  the  bulk  of  the 
earth  should  be  composed,  the  earth  would  be  almost  a  useless 
and  altogether  an  uninteresting  ball.  Very  few  of  the  pur- 
poses served  by  the  earth  now  would  be  realized  at  all.  A  few 
beasts  and  birds  and  insects  might  roam  over  the  earth  and 
find  an  abode  and  food  congenial  to  their  several  species.  And 
a  sparse  human  population  of  savage  men  might  live  a  meagre 
life,  but  could  never  attain  to  a  state  of  civilization.  Arts, 
sciences,  commerce  would  be  almost,  if  not  entirely  unknown. 
2 


26  THE   PALACE   OF   THE    GREAT   KING. 

There  could  be  neither  the  resources  nor  the  inducements  for 
commerce ;  and  where  men  and  manners  and  soil  and  scenery 
and  productions  were  all  of  the  same  uniform  stamp,  there 
would  be  as  little  inducements  to  travel.  Uniformity  in  the 
structure  and  composition  of  the  earth,  and  uniformity  of  sea- 
sons and  climates,  would  produce  an  equally  uniform  stagna- 
tion in  all  human  affairs. 

But  how  different  the  result  of  the  actual  condition  of  the 
earth.  And  this  result  is  secured  by  the  endlessly  diversified 
character  of  its  workmanship.  Variety  in  structure,  in  compo- 
sition and  arrangement  has  produced  all  our  varieties  of  soils, 
of  climates  and  seasons  ;  of  minerals,  metals  and  precious 
stones  ;  of  treee,  fruits,  plants  and  vegetables  ;  of  animals  of 
every  size,  grade  and  condition  ;  and  these  in  their  turn  fur- 
nish the  materials  and  wants  of  commerce,  and  the  inducements 
to  travel. 

As  we  look  over  the  surface  of  the  earth,  the  first  thing 
that  arrests  our  attention  is  its  inequalities.  It  is  everywhere 
singularly  variegated.  It  is  thrown  into  ridges,  hills  and 
mountains,  or  scooped  out  in  deep  ravines  and  gentle  valleys. 
It  is  intersected  by  rivers  and  streams,  and  dotted  with  lakes 
and  smaller  reservoirs  of  water.  You  may  travel  the  world 
over,  and  everywhere  meet  with  landscapes  to  admire,  yet  no 
two  of  these  shall  be  alike — not  even  two  features  shall  be  the 
same.  Each  has  its  peculiar  beauties  and  deformities — its  own 
peculiar  features — its  peculiar  shape,  contour  and  composition 
— each  affords  a  distinct  lesson  of  study  for  all  who  "  take 
pleasure  "  in  the  "  manifold  works  of  the  Lord." 

But  if  we  direct  our  attention  to  the  material  which  com- 
poses the  surface  itself,  we  discover  still  clearer  marks  of  a  be- 


DIVERSITIES    OF   SOILS.  27 

nevolent  design  by  a  wise  designer.  The  surface  of  the  earth 
is  the  soil  which  gives  birth  and  nourishment  to  all  the  endless 
varieties  of  vegetation  which  compose  the  vast  vegetable 
kingdom.  The  surface  of  the  earth,  and  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent below,  seems  everywhere  strongly  instinct  with  vegetable 
life — contains  the  vegetable  principles  or  stamina  of  vegetable 
life  :  so  that  if  the  entire  vegetation  of  the  earth  were  cut  off 
and  quite  annihilated,  and  all  present  seeds  destroyed,  there  is 
that  in  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  often  found  at  a  considera- 
ble depth  under  the  surface,  which  would  vegetate  and  deck 
the  earth  again  in  her  varied  robes. 

But  it  is  the  singular  composition  of  the  soil  which  de- 
mands our  attention  at  present.  For  it  is  this  which  is  one 
of  the  chief  qauses  of  the  singularly  diversified  vegetation  of 
which  we  speak.  Like  all  the  other  works  of  God,  the  soil  of 
all  portions  of  the  earth  presents  a  general  uniformity  of  char- 
acter. It  is  everywhere  composed  of  essentially  the  same 
earths  and  mineral  substances,  and  possesses  the  same  general 
properties,  to  administer  to  the  vegetating  process  and  the 
growth  and  maturity  of  plants.  Yet  these  same  materials 
(the  earth,  the  clay,  sand,  lime,  marl,  iron  and  various  other 
ingredients)  are  skilfully  mixed,  and  all  their  proportions  so 
nicely  compounded  and  varied,  as  to  produce  every  conceivable 
variety  of  soil.  What  consummate  wisdom,  so  to  compound 
essentially  the  same  ingredients  as  to  form  a  soil  of  so  diverse 
a  character,  and  capable  of  giving  existence  to,  and  nourishing 
so  diversified  productions !  And  this  endlessly-diversified  vege- 
tation, in  turn,  gives  support  to,  and  is,  in  a  sense,  the  cause 
of,  the  equally  diversified  races  and  species  of  animals.  A 
little  change  in  the  composition  of  the  soil — a  little  difference 


28  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

in  the  proportions  of  lime,  or  clay,  or  sand,  or  iron,  produce  a 
soil  as  differently  adapted  to  vegetation. 

We  cannot  here  too  profoundly  admire  the  wisdom  and 
beneficence  of  the  Author  of  this  arrangement.  It  is  the  basis 
of  a  scheme  of  arrangements  in  the  animal  kingdom,  and  in 
its  bearings  on  the  progress  and  happiness  of  the  human  race, 
which  we  shall  have  occasion  yet  more  profoundly  to  admire. 

In  the  first  place,  this  variety  of  soil,  in  connection,  as  we 
shall  see,  with  differences  of  climate,  fills  the  earth  with  God's 
riches.  It  supplies,  in  the  greatest  profusion  and  variety,  all 
God's  great  family  of  living  beings  with  food,  apparel,  shelter 
and  luxuries.  And  not  only  does  it  supply  these  means  of 
subsistence  and  comfort  on  the  spot  where  they  are  needed  and 
indispensable  to  the  support  and  comfort  of  life,  but,  in  con- 
nection with  a  kindred  variety  of  composition  met  in  the  earth 
below  the  surface,  it  lays  the  foundation  and  supplies  the  re- 
sources of  all  our  commerce,  and  of  the  intercourse  of  the  peo- 
ple of  one  nation  or  tribe  with  those  of  another.  Commerce, 
which  has  been  called  the  "  great  civilizer,"  and  which  is  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  most  influential  agencies  of  human  progress, 
is,  in  its  simplest  idea,  no  more  nor  less  than  the  great  ex- 
change-trade of  the  world,  which  could  have  no  existence  ex- 
cept in  the  diversified  productions  of  the  earth.  Its  most 
simple  idea  is  that  of  the  exchange  of  the  productions  of  one 
part  of  the  globe  for  those  of  another.  But  of  its  reasons  and 
advantages  we  will  defer  the  consideration  to  its  proper  place. 

But  we  should  quite  overlook  a  very  essential  cause  of  Na- 
ture's profuse  and  varied  vegetation,  if  we  did  not  allude,  at 
least,  to  the  wonderful  arrangement  of  evaporation.  It  is  this 
which  gives  vitality,  growth  and  vigor  to  every  vegetable  pro- 


EVAPOEATION   AND   ITS   USES.  29 

duction  ;  and  which  in  turn  secures,  not  only  the  continuance 
and  prosperity,  but  the  very  existence  of  all  animal  and  vege- 
table life.  But  for  this  stupendous  circulation  of  the  watery 
fluid  through  every  vein  and  artery  of  the  great  body  we  call 
our  globe,  no  vegetating  process  would  be  possible,  no  combi- 
nations of  soils,  no  conditions  of  climate,  could  produce  even 
the  most  stinted  vegetation,  or  the  most  dwarfish  animal  ex- 
istence. In  vain  would  you  select  the  most  favored  soils,  and 
consult  never  so  wisely  the  character  of  climates,  and  sow  your 
seed  and  cultivate  with  the  most  sleepless  care,  if  the  waters 
above  and  the  waters  beneath  did  not  constantly  minister  to 
your  aid.  You  would  soon  learn  that  it  is  only  "  through  the 
scent  of  water  it  will  bud  and  bring  forth  boughs." 

But  this  healthful,  life-giving  arrangement  is  wholly  de- 
pendent on  another,  not  the  less  wonderful.  It  is  evaporation. 
The  rivers  run  into  the  sea,  yet  the  sea  is  not  full.  For,  by  a 
process  as  wonderful  as  it  is  grand,  these  same  waters  return, 
drawn  up  into  the  atmosphere  by  means  of  evaporation,  satu- 
rating the  whole  expanse  of  the  atmosphere  in  the  form  of 
vapor,  and  after  serving  essential  and  beneficial  purposes  to 
animal  and  vegetable  life  in  their  vaporous  state,  they  descend 
in  refreshing  showers  on  the  earth,  prepared,  after  having  per- 
formed their  benevolent  mission  here,  to  repeat  their  benefi- 
cent circuit  through  ocean,  air  and  earth  to  the  end  of  time. 

The  magnitude  and  extent  of  this  singular  arrangement, 
as  well  as  its  godlike  beneficence,  is  but  imperfectly  understood 
and  but  scantily  appreciated.  "  From  the  whole  surface  of 
the  ocean,"  says  Dr.  Dick,  "  there  arises,  every  twelve  hours,  no 
less  than  thirty  million  cubic  feet  of  water,  which  is  more  than  suf- 
ficient to  supply  all  the  rivers  on  the  earth.  This  immense  body 


30  THE   PALACE   OF  THE   GREAT  KING. 

of  water  is  formed  into  clouds,  and  carried  over  every  part  of 
the  continents ;  and  again  it  is  condensed  into  rain,  snow  or 
dews,  which  fertilize  the  earth.  Should  this  process  pause,  we 
might  wash  our  clothes,  but  centuries  would  not  dry  them,  for 
evaporation  alone  produces  this  effect;  vegetation  would 
wither  ;  rivers  would  swell  the  ocean  ;  the  operations  of  nature 
would  cease."  So  close  is  the  connection  between  this  process 
and  vegetable  and  animal  life.  "Praise  the  Lord,  for  he 
causeth  the  vapors  to  ascend  from  the  ends  of  the  earth." 

But  it  is  time  that  we  go  below  the  surface — yet  we  no 
sooner  descend  than  we  meet,  in  depths  "which  no  fowl 
knoweth  and  which  vulture's  eye  hath  not  seen,"  the  same 
characteristic.  Out  of  a  few  simple  elementary  substances  the 
Divine  Architect  has  formed  the  richest  variety  of  minerals  and 
metals  for  the  use  of  man.  At  one  moment  you  strike  on  a 
rich  bed  of  coal,  extending  over  acres,  and  in  some  parts  of 
the  world,  as  in  America,  over  hundreds  of  square  miles,  and 
containing  enough  of  this  truly  valuable  substance  to  supply 
the  demands  of  the  whole  world,  for  fuel,  and  all  the  purposes 
of  manufacturing  and  locomotion  for  ages  to  come.  Next  you 
hit  upon  a  bed  of  iron,  which  being,  like  coal,  a  substance  in- 
dispensable to  the  comfort  and  advancement  of  man,  and  de- 
manded in  exhaustless  quantities,  is  found  very  universally 
diffused,  and  in  the  greatest  abundance. 

Another  of  earth's  great  internal  varieties  we  meet  in  the 
shape  of  stones  and  rocks.  These  are  yet  more  common  than 
either  of  the  substances  named,  and  of  the  most  varied  and  ex- 
tensive use  to  man.  And,  different  from  coal  or  iron,  stone 
exists  in  almost  every  conceivable  variety,  from  the  hardest,  the 
quartz,  the  flint,  the  granite  and  the  marble,  down  through  all 


METALS   AND    MINERALS.  31 

grades  and  qualities,  to  the  soft  soap-stone,  the  fibrous  asbestos 
and  the  singularly  lamellated  mica,  all  useful  in  their  way,  and 
capable  of  being  used  in  a  great  variety  of  ways — for  building 
and  ornamental  carved  work — for  fences  and  furnaces — for 
roads  and  bridges — for  paving  and  flagging  walks  and  streets 
— as  a  flux  for  the  fusing  of  metals — a  manure  for  the  soil—* 
for  the  construction  of  a  great  variety  of  vessels  and  utensils  in 
daily  use,  and  for  numberless  and  nameless  purposes  in  the 
common  pursuits  of  life.  And  the  quantities  found  in  the 
earth,  and  in  those  colossal  mountain-piles  above  the  surface, 
are  wisely  proportioned  to  the  extensive  demand. 

We  scarcely  need  enumerate  the  various  other  useful  sub- 
stances which  are  discovered  to  exist  in  the  same  earth,  and 
which  have  all  been  found  there,  and  carefully  stored  away  and 
from  the  beginning  kept  in  reserve  for  the  use  of  civilized  man  ; 
and  many  of  them  kept  in  reserve  for  man  when  he  shall  ar- 
rive at  a  higher  state  of  advancement  than  he  has  yet  reached. 
Lead,  copper,-  tin,  zinc,  sulphur,  mercury — gold,  silver,  dia- 
monds and  precious  stones — all  these  and  numerous  others,  are 
met  as  the  varied  forms  into  which  matter  has  been  moulded  by 
the  plastic  hand  of  Nature  for  the  service  of  his  creature  man. 
And,  no  doubt,  new  substances  remain  yet  unrevealed  in  the 
arcana  of  nature,  which,  when  brought  to  light,  shall  as  effec- 
tually minister  to  the  same  purpose.  Nor  would  we  omit  to 
notice  the  wise  regard  had  throughout  the  whole  to  the  differ- 
ent quantities  which  has  been  provided  of  each  kind — how  the 
quantity  is  proportioned  to  the  demand,  or  the  need  man  has 
of  it.  If  gold  or  silver  had  been  made  as  abundant  as  iron  or 
coal,  it  would  have  been  of  very  little  service.  You  could 
neither  use  it  for  fuel,  nor  convert  it  into  steam,  nor  give  it 


32          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

shape  or  form  for  building  pavements,  roads  or  bridges.  Or 
if  iron  and  coal  had  been  formed  only  in  the  limited  quantities 
in  which  silver  and  gold  exist,  it  would  be,  if  possible,  still' 
more  disastrous.  It  would  be  practically  the  same  as  if  they 
did  not  exist  at  all ;  and  man  in  such  a  case  could  not  have 
advanced  beyond  the  rude  condition  of  the  savage. 

We  cannot  even  form  any  probable  estimate  of  the  whole 
amount  of  coal  or  of  iron  which  the  entire  earth  actually  con- 
tains. Yet  we  are  able  to  say  from  facts  already  known,  that 
the  amount  is  enormous.  It  is,  we  believe,  well  ascertained 
that  there  are,  in  the  United  States  of  America,  at  least,  163,000 
square  miles  of  coal  fields.  And  as  geological  surveys  and 
mineralogical  researches  are  extended  from  year  to  year,  the 
area,  vast  as  it  already  is  known  to  be,  is  continually  enlarg- 
ing. The  quantity  of  coal  which  lies  beneath  the  surface  of  a 
single  square  mile,  or  even  a  square  acre,  is  vastly  more  than 
one  would  at  first  suppose.  To  say  nothing  of  the  great  coal 
fields  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Illinois  and  Missouri,  which 
abound  in  coal,  beyond  any  credible  estimate  that  we  can 
make  in  tons  or  car-loads,  we  are  astonished  at  the  estimates 
which  we  see  made,  from  time  to  time,  of  the  amount  of  this 
article  contained  in  some  particular  field  of  quite  limited  ex- 
tent. Such  an  estimate  we  recently  saw  made  of  the  quantity 
of  coal  contained  in  two  counties  in  Virginia.  Mr.  Eidgeway, 
civil  engineer  and  geologist,  estimates  the  amount  of  merchant- 
able coal  in  Hampshire  and  Hardy  counties  at  1,560,000,000 
tons  at  the  lowest  calculation.  And  within  the  same  area  of 
coal-grounds,  he  locates  375,000,000  tons  of  "  nodular  argilla- 
ceous iron  ore  ;  besides  135,000,000  tons  of  the  siliceous  fossil- 
iferous  "  variety  of  iron  ore  found  in  the  rocks  of  the  Knobby 
Mountains. 


COAL  AND   IRON   IN  THE   SAME   FIELD.  33 

What  is  noticed  here  in  reference  to  the  comparative  ex- 
tent of  coal  and  iron  fields — the  two  occupying  nearly  the  same 
extent — is  found  to  be  true  in  reference  to  most  of  our  coal 
and  iron  grounds.  They  are  not  only  nearly  similar  in  ex- 
tent ;  but,  what  is  worthy  of  notice  as  another  instance  of 
benevolent  design,  they  are,  to  a  considerable '  extent,  identi- 
cal. Coal  and  iron  are  generally  found  in  the  same  fields — an 
arrangement  not  only  favoring  the  easier  transportation  of  the 
two  articles  to  all  parts  of  the  country  and  of  the  world — the 
same  facilities  of  conveyance  serving  for  the  two — but,  in  the 
absence  of  other  fuel,  the  coal  becomes  invaluable  for  smelting 
the  iron  and  otherwise  preparing  it  for  use. 

There  is  infinite  wisdom  and  benevolence  in  so  proportion- 
ing these  various  substances  precisely  as  to  meet  our  wants. 
There  is  no  useless  profusion  of  silver  or  gold  or  precious 
stones ;  there  is  no  lack  of  the  substances  which  we  need 
in  the  greatest  abundance.  The  one  we  have  by  the  acre  and 
the  mile ;  the  other,  by  the  pound  and  the  pennyweight. 

We  have  seen  how  the  diversified  character  of  the  earth's 
surface  becomes  the  means  of  feeding,  clothing,  housing,  -and 
in  every  way  administering  to  the  necessities  and  luxury  of 
God's  great  and  varied  family  of  living  things ;  and  we  have 
seen,  in  a  like  diversified  character  of  the  many  useful  sub- 
stances found  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  the  materials,  and  the 
means  of  carrying  on,  and,  in  a  sense,  the  origin  of  every  use- , 
ful  trade  and  handicraft  of  man — of  every  human  improvement 
— of  the  whole  manufacturing  interests  of  the  world — and  of 
a  great  part  of  human  activity.  How  soon  would  the  din 
of  the  world's  business  be  hushed  and  the  ponderous  wheel  of 
human  activity  be  arrested,  if  the  earth  should  for  a  single 
2* 


34          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

year  refuse  to  yield  her  useful  minerals  and  metals.  Indeed, 
what  disaster  would  follow,  if  a  single  one  should  be  refused. 
The  great  machine  would  be  deranged,  if  not  effectually  stopped, 
if  but  one  were  wanting.  We  select  iron,  the  most  useful  and 
therefore  the  more  striking,  yet  but  one  of  the  many  useful  in- 
gredients which  the  earth  yields  for  man.  Yet  were  some 
convulsion  in  nature  to  annihilate  our  coal,  or  copper,  or  lead, 
or  zinc,  we  should,  in  like  manner,  find  ourselves  brought  to  a 
complete  nonplus  in  the  great  arena  of  life's  business.  So 
familiar  are  we  with  the  use  of  iron,  as  an  article  that  abounds 
almost  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  we  are  scarcely  in  a  position 
fully  to  estimate  its  value ;  yet  we  can  easily  see  that  without 
it  man  could  scarcely  take  the  first  step  towards  civilization. 

Suppose  for  a  moment,  then,  that  some  mighty  magician 
had  the  power,  by  one  motion  of  his  wand,  to  annihilate  all  the 
iron,  of  every  kind  and  combination,  now  in  use  or  in  the 
mine,  in  the  whole  world — that  henceforth  iron  should  be  no 
more ;  what  would  be  the  consequence  ?  The  disaster  would 
doubtless  be  vastly  more  extensive  and  calamitous  than  you 
may  at  first  suppose. 

You  are  a  hardware  merchant,  or  a  machinist ;  or  you  have 
an  interest  in  a  mine,  or  a  foundery,  or  a  railroad,  or  a  steam- 
boat— or  may  belong  to  almost  any  craft,  or  trade,  or  calling. 
You  have,  as  we  will  suppose,  of  an  evening,  made  your  last 
entry  in  your  book  of  accounts,  and  are  complacently  giving 
yourself  up  to  a  pleasant  revery  on  the  progress  and  prospects  of 
the  age :  "  It  is  a  wonderful  age !  What  vast  mechanical  opera- 
tions now  keep  the  world  in  motion ! — what  stupendous  manu- 
factures ! — what  an  array  of  shipping  begirds  our  great  emporiums 
of  trade! — what  majestic  steamers  plough  our  inland  waters  and 


IEON   ALL   ANNIHILATED.  35 

bridge  our  oceans ! — what  a  wonderful  concatenation  of  railways 
checker  our  land  in  every  direction ! — with  what  lightning  speed 
news  is  communicated  a  thousand  miles  distant! — what  mining 
and  smelting,  and  casting  of  metals,  and  hammering  into  every 
conceivable  article  of  use  or  ornament! — and  what  crowded 
warehouses !  It  is  a  wonderful  age !  "  But  your  pleasant 
revery  is  suddenly  disturbed  : 

A  messenger  hastily  enters  and  announces  that  every 
manufactory  of  the  world,  of  every  size  and  power,  has  ceased 
to  act,  and  ceased  to  be.  All  their  varied  and  costly  machin- 
ery has  vanished  into  air,  and  those  huge  structures  are  dis- 
mantled and  tumbling  to  the  ground.  The  30,000,000  cotton 
spindles  of  the  world  have  forever  ceased  to  twirl — all  the 
great  and  all  the  small  manufacturing  interests  of  the  world 
have  died,  not  to  be  revived — every  wheel  turned  by  steam  or 
made  of  iron  has  stopped,  and  the  wheel  is  gone.  All  our 
thousand  and  one  labor-saving  machines  are  no  more — al- 
ready is  the  dial  of  human  advancement  turned  back  some 
centuries.  And  what  has  caused  this  disaster?  Nothing, 
nothing  except  the  failure  of  the  IRON,  of  which  all  this  vast 
array  of  machinery  is  composed.  This  one  article  subtracted, 
and  all  the  machinery  in  the  world  would  fall  into  ruins. 

While  he  was  thus  speaking,  there  came  another,  who  de- 
clared that  the  25,000  miles  of  railroads  in  America,  and 
the  30,000  miles  in  England  and  on  the  Continent,  are  di- 
vested of  their  rails  and  become  useless — that  all  our  long 
trains  of  richly-laden  and  heavy-burdened  trains  shall  be  seen 
winding  their  way,  as  a  vast  thing  of  life,  no  longer — that  all 
our  commodious,  beautiful  cars,  and  powerful  locomotives,  out- 
stripping the  wind  in  their  speed,  have  fallen  to  the  ground 


36  THE  PALACE   OP   THE   GREAT  KING. 

— that  all  our  canal-boats  and  steamships  are  only  confused 
masses  of  planks  and  timbers,  with  no  connecting  bolts  or  bands 
or  stanchions — that  not  a  carriage,  or  wagon,  or  dray  or  barrow, 
remains  for  the  locomotion  of  man  or  freight,  but  all  things  are 
thrown  back  into  the  savage  state,  when  men  moved  from  place 
to  place  on  foot,  and  transported  whatever  was  to  be  moved  on 
their  backs.  And  again,  why  all  this  ?  Nothing  has  disap- 
peared but  that  very  common  and  cheap  article  called  iron. 
Without  this,  railways  are  nothing ;  cars,  carriages,  sailing  ves- 
sels and  steamers,  can  have  no  existence  without  the  strong 
bands  and  bolts  of  iron. 

While  he  was  yet  speaking,  there  came  also  another,  who 
said  that  all  our  100,000  miles  of  telegraph  lines,  divested  of 
their  connecting,  intelligence-conveying  wires,  stand  useless 
and  alone ;  that  the  boon  we  had  hoped  for  from  the  genius 
of  a  Morse,  should  never  be  realized. 

But  the  calamity  stops  not  here.  While  the  last  bearer  of 
sad  tidings  was  yet  speaking,  there  came  another  also,  who 
said  that  all  the  tools,  and  utensils,  and  labor-saving  con- 
trivances of  the  farmer  and  the  mechanic  had  instantly  dis- 
appeared— axes,  saws,  planes,  chisels,  augurs;  hoes,  shovels, 
ploughs,  harrows ;  chains — all  had  gone  except  their  handles  or 
frames ;  and  henceforth  agriculture  could  be  pursued  no  further 
than  could  be  performed  by  the  unassisted  hand,  or  by  rude 
implements  of  wood ;  and  the  mechanic  would  be  aided  only 
by  such  tools  as  could  be  wrought  out  of  stone. 

While  he  is  yet  speaking,  another,  with  saddened  visage, 
enters  to  proclaim  that  the  desolating  calamity  has  entered  our 
houses,  and  spread  its  ruin  about  our  firesides — that  most  of 
our  cooking  vessels  have  vanished,  that  our  stoves  are  no  more, 


THE  WORLD  AT  A   STAND.  37 

that  our  knives  and  our  forks,  our  pocket-knives  and  our  razors, 
and  most  of  the  furniture  of  our  houses — that  our  weapons  of 
war  and  implements  of  peace  are  nowhere  to  be  found ;  yea, 
more  frightful  still,  the  doors  of  our  houses  are  falling  down  for 
the  lack  of  hinges,  the  floor-boards  are  springing  from  their 
fastenings,  the  boards  falling  from  their  sides,  and  the  shingles 
flying  from  the  roof. 

All  these  things,  and  vastly  more,  would  follow  were  we 
deprived  of  the  use  of  iron.  The  world  would  at  once  seem  to 
be  brought  to  a  dead  stand — at  least  would  be  thrown  back 
into  a  state  of  barbarism.  Nothing  would  remain  that  would 
deserve  the  name  of  agriculture,  or  manufacture,  or  commerce. 
Navigation  would  be  unknown ;  the  art  of  printing,  a  very 
meagre  affair;  and  the  mechanical  arts  nothing  worthy  the 
name.  And  all  this  for  the  lack  of  iron. 

And  so  we  might  say,  though  in  a  different  degree,  of  other 
metals  and  minerals.  Copper,  lead,  zinc,  lime,  granite,  and, 
more  than  all,  coal.  Each  holds  a  place  as  an  agent  of  human 
advancement,  which,  if  left  vacant,  human  affairs  would  be 
thrown  into  the  saddest  disorder,  if  not  arrested.  Without  coal, 
iron  would  to  a  great  extent  be  useless ;  and  without  lime,  and 
granite,  and  marble,  and  the  harder  and  softer  strata  of  rocks, 
many  other  resources  of  nature  would  exist  in  vain. 

Nothing  less  than  Omniscience  could  have  so  anticipated  the 
wants  even  of  the  present  advanced  condition  of  the  world,  and 
have  provided  iron,  and  coal,  and  stone,  in  such  superabundant 
supplies  as  to  meet  such  a  demand ;  and  not  only  this,  but  to 
meet  the  vastly  increased  demand  of  a  coming  age.  Such 
fields  of  coal  and  of  iron  as  are  met  with  in  America ;  and 
such  mines  of  lead,  and  copper,  and  zinc ;  and  such  piles  of 


38  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

marble,  and  granite,  and  other  valuable  stone  as  our  lofty 
mountains  contain,  fully  bespeak  the  foresight  and  the  benevo- 
lent design  of  God.  He  delights  in  the  prosperity  of  his 
people,  arid  he  has  undoubtedly  provided  every  resource  which 
the  race  can  need  as  it  shall  exist  in  a  vastly  advanced  con- 
dition. 


•CHAPTER    III. 

VARIETIES  GEOGRAPHICAL  :  Cosmogony — The  Earth  as  a  Uniform  Lump — The  Earth 
as  Variegated:  Land,  "Water,  Mountains,  Plains— How  many  things  a  Man 
requires  in  the  Common  Affairs  of  Every-day  Life :  Food,  Apparel,  House,  and 
Implements  of  Labor. 

A  GEOGRAPHICAL  survey  of  the  earth  equally  impresses  on 
the  mind  an  idea  of  the  singularly  diversified  character  of 
Nature's  works.  As  the  eye  glances  over  the  surface  of  our 
globe,  it  sees  it  beautifully  diversified  with  sea  and  land, 
mountain  and  plain,  hill  and  valley,  river  and  lake ;  and  we 
at  once  discover  such  an  arrangement  to  be  replete  with  that 
benevolence  which  the  Creator  has  everywhere  shown  towards 
his  creatures.  And  the  result  of  such  an  arrangement  is,  that 
boundless  variety  of  vegetable  productions  and  animal  life, 
which  everywhere  regales  the  eye  of  man  with  an  endlessly 
variegated  scenery — that  administers  to  the  varied  tastes  and 
supplies  the  numerous  wants  of  all  living  creatures — that  occu- 
pies the  mind  on  a  thousand  different  objects,  and  continually 
presents  new  scenes  of  pleasure  and  new  reasons  for  praise. 

Had  it  been  the  design  of  the  Former  of  the  earth  simply 
to  have  added  another  to  the  countless  number  of  worlds  which 
previously  existed — a  globe  that,  like  other  planets,  should 
run  its  destined  rounds  about  the  sun,  reflecting  the  light  of 
that  luminary,  and  blending  its  own  with  the  stars  of  the  fir- 


40          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEEAT  KING. 

mament — there  had  been  no  need  that  the  earth  should  be 
more  than  a  mass  of  one  uniform  substance,  the  sea  and  the 
dry  land  mingled  in  one  chaotic  mass ;  no  need  that  the 
waters  should  be  gathered  together  in  one  place,  and  the  dry 
land  appear.  All  might  have  been  one  uniform,  unbroken, 
dead  lump,  without  hill  or  valley,  lake  or  river,  shrub  or  tree, 
flower  or  fruit ;  without  soil,  climate,  or  atmosphere ;  without 
mineral  or  metal.  It  could  still  have  performed  its  journeys 
about  the  sun,  and  twinkled  as  a  star  in  the  heavens.  But  it 
was  the  design  of  Infinite  Benevolence  to  make  the  earth  a  fit 
habitation  for  an  inconceivable  variety  of  living  beings ;  and 
especially  to  carry  out  purposes  of  infinite  moment  in  respect 
to  his  creature — man.  Hence  the  profuse  expenditure  of  the 
Divine  skill  in  fitting  up  the  earth  as  we  now  find  it.  In  the 
one  case,  the  earth  would  have  been  one  unbroken  desolation. 
No  towering  mountain  or  fertilizing  river  would  have  broken 
the  monotony  of  the  view ;  no  sloping  hill  or  smiling  valley 
could  have  greeted  the  eye ;  no  tribes  of  animals  gambolled 
over  the  fields,  or  animated  the  crust  of  the  earth,  or  sported 
in  the  waters.  No  living  verdure  could  have  smiled  in  the 
meadows,  and  no  gushing  plenty  been  poured  into  the  lap  of 
every  living  thing. 

Such  seems  to  have  been  the  condition  of  our  earth  when 
first  brought  to  notice  by  the  sacred  historian.  It  "was  with- 
out form  and  void,  and  darkness  was  on  the  face  of  the  deep." 
Yet  it  was  probably  as  well  fitted  then  as  it  is  now  to  act  its 
destined  part  as  a  planet  in  the  great  system.  It  then  possessed 
the  same  bulk  and  weight,  and  the  same  motion  and  velocity 
in  its  orbit  about  the  sun.  But  the  Sovereign  Euler  had  other 
designs :  He  would  fit  up  the  earth  to  be  a  suitable  habitation 


THE  EAETH  A  FORMLESS  LUMP.  41 

for  man,  and  make  it,  too,  the  theatre  for  the  most  wonderful 
display  of  his  wisdom  and  goodness  as  a  creator  and  governor, 
and  his  superabounding  mercy  as  a  Saviour. 

Our  idea  may  be  presented  thus:  A  highly  intelligent 
stranger  from  a  neighboring  world  visits  our  planet  at  the  two 
different  periods  referred  to.  We  will  suppose  him  endowed 
with  such  locomotive  powers  that  he  may  with  ease  transport 
himself  almost  instantaneously  to  any  portion  of  the  earth's 
surface,  and  whose  organs  of  vision  are  such  that  he  can,  from 
any  one  point,  survey  at  the  same  moment  a  whole  continent. 

Our  heavenly  visitant  shall  first  alight  upon  our  earth  at 
the  close  of  the  "first  day."  Heretofore  it  had  been  one 
chaotic  mass,  "without  form  and  void;"  waste  and  empty, 
and  darkness  covered  its  unseemly  face.  This  darkness  had 
now  been  scattered,  and  the  waste  and  dreary  ball  was  now 
revealed  to  the  light  of  heaven.  But  what  a  scene  to  behold ! 
What  a  field  to  traverse !  He  wanders  from  equator  to  pole, 
and  from  pole  to  equator,  and  all  is  but  one  dead  lump  of 
uniformity.  There  is  no  sea,  no  dry  land ;  no  rivers  or  moun- 
tains, no  gushing  streams  or  smiling  fields ;  no  sporting  ani- 
mals or  singing  birds ;  no  forests  or  cooling  shades,  or  fragrant 
flowers;  no  picturesque  landscape  or  change  of  scene;  no 
busy  towns  and  pleasant  villages;  no  din  of  busy  men  or 
children  playing  in  the  streets — though  possibly  there  might 
be  a  few  stunted,  monotonous  shrubs,  and  a  few  dwarfish, 
starveling  animals  to  browse  upon  the  tasteless  herbage,  and  to 
drag  out  a  cheerless  life ;  and  a  few  tribes  of  more  dwarfish, 
savage  men,  to  starve  out  a  miserable,  monotonous  existence 
on  what  they  might,  with  their  hands  as  their  only  weapons, 
seize  of  these  famishing  animals ;  yet  such  a  covering  of  the 


42  THE  PALACE  OP  THE  GBEAT  KING. 

earth,  such  animal  existences,  would  do  little  to  gratify  the 
eye  of  the  spectator.  All  would  be  dreariness  and  desolation. 
No  pleasant  landscape  would  greet  the  eye,  no  sweet  music  the 
ear ;  nothing  to  gratify  the  taste,  and  no  varied  objects  over 
which  the  mind  might  expatiate,  and  reason,  and  compare. 
And  for  food,  no  more  than  the  scantiest  pittance  which  could 
possibly  meet  the  sheerest  necessity.  The  whole  surface  of  the 
earth  was  then  a  "desolate,  dreary,  hideous  waste,  without 
order  or  beauty,  inhabitants  or  furniture." 

Yet  in  this  chaotic  mass  lay  mingled  all  the  elementary 
principles,  all  the  essential  ingredients  out  of  which  have  been 
formed  all  the  boundless  multiplicity  of  objects  which  now 
minister  either  to  the  wants  or  the  luxuries  of  God's  great 
family  of  living  beings.  But  what  a  change  the  moment  this 
huge  lump  of  clay  was  taken  in  hand  by  the  Divine  Potter ! 
Wonderful  indeed  is  the  transformation  now  effected  by  the 
skill  and  the  benevolence  of  the  Great  Architect!  What 
shapes  and  forms  of  matter,  and  what  modes  of  life;  what 
exhaustless  provision  made  for  the  sustenance  and  happiness 
of  every  grade  of  life ;  what  wise  and  benevolent  adaptations 
of  one  thing  to  another ;  and  out  of  a  very  few  elementary  or 
simple  substances,  what  a  countless  number  of  objects  have 
been  formed,  and  into  what  an  inconceivable  variety  of  animal, 
and  vegetable,  and  mineral,  and  metallic  existences  has  matter 
been  moulded!  Now  we  see  it  shaped  into  a  colossal  mass 
and  piled  up  in  the  form  of  a  huge  mountain  that  towers  above 
the  clouds  ;  now  it  gilds  the  wing  of  the  smallest  insect.  In 
one  instant  it  is  moulded  into  the  framework,  and  muscles, 
and  sinews  of  the  huge  elephant ;  in  another  circulates  in  the 
invisible  minute  particle  of  blood  that  circulates  in  the  veins  of 


THE   EAKTH   FITTED   UP   FOR  USE.  43 

the  millions  of  monads  that  sport  in  a  single  drop  of  water  or 
recline  beneath  the  shade  of  the  down  of  the  rose-leaf.  Water, 
air,  gases,  odors,  perfumes,  are  but  different  forms  or  com- 
binations of  matter — of  a  few  elementary  substances ;  yet  what 
can  differ  more  than  a  metal  dense  as  gold  or  a  rock  as  hard 
as  granite,  and  the  perfume  from  a  single  particle  of  musk, 
which  is  so  subtle  as  to  fill  a  room  for  years. 

But  we  will  accompany  our  illustrious  stranger,  as  he  deigns 
his  second  visit  to  this  terrestrial  ball.  Time  had  rolled  on — 
the  earth  as  impelled  by  the  hand  of  Omnipotence,  had  been 
performing  his  annual  rounds,  and,  as  he  had  been  witness, 
the  Divine  Architect  had  all  this  time  been  moulding  and 
shaping,  creating  and  transforming,  till  the  earth  was  made  to 
exhibit  its  present  and  beautiful  aspect.  By  means  of  some 
mighty  convulsion,  of  which  we  can  form  no  adequate  idea,  the 
waters  had  been  gathered  together  in  one  place,  and  formed 
the  sea ;  the  lofty  mountains  had  ascended  from  beneath,  and 
the  hills  and  the  valleys  were  formed  ;  and  by  a  series  of  com- 
motions which  agitated  every  separate  particle  of  matter,  rocks, 
soil,  every  species  of  earth,  mineral  and  metal,  were  formed, 
particle  finding  its  kindred  particle,  while  a  stupendous  chemi- 
cal process  was  going  on ;  and  all  in  obedience  to  the  Divine 
fiat — even  the  minutest  process  is  watched  over  by  the  Om- 
niscient eye.  The  result  of  the  process  is  the  incomprehensi- 
ble variety  which  characterizes  every  created  thing. 

We  will  first  survey  the  expanse  of  waters ;  and  what  wis- 
dom at  once  appears  in  their  distribution.  Though  there  be 
essentially  but  one  body  of  water,  yet  how  is  this  one  great 
body  divided  into  oceans,  seas,  lakes,  creeks,  bays,  harbors, 
rivers  ;  and  all  these  so  disposed  of  and  arranged  in  reference 


44  THE  PALACE  OP  THE  GEEAT  KING. 

to  the  land  as  to  subserve  the  most  effectually  the  purposes  of 
evaporation,  irrigation,  and  commerce. 

Not  only  is  the  ocean  itself  one  of  Nature's  great  varieties, 
but  it  is  in  all  its  details  full  of  beauty  and  variety.  The  ele- 
ment that  composes  the  ocean — its  general  characteristics — 
the  color,  motions  and  phosphorescent  appearance  of  the  ocean 
— its  tides,  and  rolling  billows  when  agitated — the  beauty  and 
singularity  of  many  portions  of  its  bottom,  especially  where 
ornamented  with  coral  formations — the  unique  mode  of  travel 
on  water — and  the  altogether  novel  world  of  living  beings 
which  are  met  in  the  deep,  distinguish  the  great  water-world 
from  the  dry  land.  Here  we  meet  a  new  order  of  life,  new 
modes  of  subsistence,  of  habitation,  and  of  locomotion.  And 
though  the  ocean  contains  caverns  deep  and  dark,  into  which 
no  human  eye  has  penetrated,  and  which  are  full  of  the  mon- 
sters of  the  sea,  and  of  every  living  thing  that  swims  or  creeps, 
both  small  and  great ;  and  though  from  the  nature  of  the  case 
we  can  know  very  little  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  deep,  yet  we 
know  enough  to  be  able  to  affirm  that  the  same  love  and  law 
of  variety  governed  the  Divine  mind  in  the  creation  of  the  sea 
and  in  all  that  pertains  thereunto,  as  in  the  creation  and  the 
fitting-up  of  the  dry  land.  Life  appears  here  likewise  in  the 
greatest  possible  variety,  and  in  the  most  lavish  profusion. 

But  we  will  rather  betake  ourselves  to  the  dry  land,  where 
we  shall  meet  a  more  familiar,  if  not  a  more  obvious  illustration 
of  our  theme. 

As  we  pass  from  the  equator  to  either  pole,  we  meet  a  cli- 
mate varying  with  every  successive  degree  of  latitude,  and  we 
meet  correspondingly  changing  seasons,  vegetation  and  animal 
life.  And  man,  too,  though  a  native  of  all  lands  and  climates, 


DIVERSIFIED   VEGETATION.  45 

differs  in  a  thousand  peculiarities  as  you  meet  him  in  different 
latitudes  :  it  may  be  only  in  stature,  or  the  color  of  the  hair,  or 
hue  of  the  skin,  or  contour  of  the  face.  We  see  the  different 
portions  of  land,  continents  and  islands,  so  shaped  and  so  ar- 
ranged in  their  relation  one  to  the  other,  and  to  the  surround- 
ing waters,  and  so  curiously  scalloped  with  capes,  and  promon- 
tories, and  peninsulas,  and  so  tastefully  intersected  with  rivers 
and  streamlets,  and  dotted  with  lakes  and  lesser  reservoirs  of 
water,  as  to  excite  a  never-ceasing  admiration.  All  is  con- 
structed with  a  singular  love  of  variety. 

Nor  does  the  interest  cease  when  we  come  to  inspect  the 
several  continents  separately.  Not  a  square  rood  of  the  whole 
— not  a  square  yard  that  does  not  present  a  thousand  varieties. 
We  are  at  first  struck  with  the  variety  of  the  external  features 
of  a  continent  as  a  whole.  It  is  diversified  with  mountains 
and  hills,  and  gentle  risings  of  every  conceivable  length, 
height  and  declivity.  Some  towering  above  the  clouds  and 
clad  in  everlasting  snow ;  some  belching  forth,  in  terrific 
grandeur,  volumes  of  fire  and  smoke,  and  rivers  of  liquid  rock ; 
some  clothed  in  trees  of  evergreen  and  waving  gracefully  to 
the  breeze  ;  others  as  bleak  and  rude  as  if  beaten  by  the  storms 
of  a  thousand  winters.  Some  are  covered  to  their  very  sum- 
mits with  the  rich  products  of  the  husbandman,  and,  sloping 
beautifully  to  the  plain,  bear  on  their  bosom  fertile  fields  and 
richly-laden  orchards.  It  is,  too,  diversified  with  plains  and 
valleys,  groves  and  forests,  rivers,  creeks  and  streamlets  of 
every  possible  description ;  with  cascades,  lakes  and  ponds ; 
and  with  a  soil  and  productions  as  various  as  climate  and  lati- 
tude. Tropical  grains,  fruits,  flowers,  spices  ;  vegetables,  min- 
erals and  metals,  are  succeeded  by  their  kindred  varieties  in  a 


46  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

temperate  zone ;  while,  as  we  pass  further  northward,  we  are 
again  greeted  with  new  varieties  not  less  pleasing  or  useful. 

Again,  we  find  each  continent  divided  into  a  number  of 
states  or  kingdoms,  and  inhabited  by  different  tribes  of  men. 
All  these  nations  and  tribes  differ  in  respect  to  government, 
laws,  institutions  and  political  economy.  Perhaps  no  two  of 
them  speak  the  same  language :  at  least  they  differ  in  dialect, 
in  the  tone  of  the  voice,  in  the  features  of  the  face,  and  in  the 
hue  of  the  skin.  And  they  differ  more  in  manners  and  cus- 
toms ;  in  their  food  and  the  manner  of  preparing  it,  and  of 
taking  their  meals ;  in  the  style  and  material  of  their  cloth- 
ing ;  in  the  fashion  and  workmanship  of  their  habitations ;  in 
their  occupations  and  ways  of  working ;  in  their  modes  of 
thinking,  and  the  manner  of  expressing  their  thoughts  ;  and  in 
their  religion  and  modes  of  worship. 

Some  people  have  their  food  served  on  a  table  spread  with 
dishes — sit  in  chairs,  and  eat  with  knife,  fork  and  spoon ; 
others  sit  upon  the  ground,  and  eat  from  the  common  dish,  or 
trencher,  or  loaf,  with  their  fingers.  Some  eat  with  silver 
forks,  others  with  steel  forks,  and  a  vastly  greater  number  eat 
with  no  forks  at  all.  They  deem  it  more  sensible  to  use  the 
more  flexible  forks  which  nature  has  very  kindly  appended  to 
the  end  of  their  hands.  Some  people  sit  in  chairs,  others  sit  on 
their  heels,  others  sit  cross-legged,  others  don't  sit  at  all,  but 
recline.  Some  men  wear  hats,  of  every  conceivable  shape  and 
size ;  some  wear  caps  as  multiform ;  and  more  wear  turbans. 

Or  if  the  inquiry  turn  on  the  vegetable,  mineral  or  animal 
productions  of  the  different  portions  of  a  continent,  we  shall 
discover  the  same  varied  profusion,  to  meet  the  wants  and  to 
minister  to  the  tastes  and  luxuries  of  man.  Each  climate  ha,. 


PEOFUSE   SUPPLY    OF   MAN'S   WANTS.  47 

its  own  peculiar  productions,  differing  from  those  of  any  other 
climate.  Were  we  able  to  enumerate  all  the  various  kinds  of 
grains,  meats,  vegetables  and  fruits  which  compose  our  diet, 
and  the  variety  of  drinks  which  we  may  enjoy  as  the  indige- 
nous productions  of  our  own  soil,  we  should  have  some  faint  idea 
of  Heaven's  bounty  towards  his  creatures.  And  we  get  the 
same  impression  when  we  contemplate  the  boundless  profusion 
which  God  has  created  by  which  to  supply  the  wants  of  man 
in  respect  to  clothing,  habitation,  and  the  various  means  of 
improvement.  How  many  different  fabrics,  suited  to  the  dif- 
ferent seasons  of  the  year,  and  to  his  convenience,  comfort  or 
luxury,  are  provided  in  a  single  region  of  country ;  and  how 
many  different  materials  for  the  Construction  of  his  house  ;  and 
how  many  more  for  weapons  of  defence  and  the  implements  of 
his  craft,  and  for  all  his  labor-saving  machines. 

And  if  we  here  bring  into  the  account  the  idea  ofl  the  ex- 
change of  commodities — the  idea  of  a  commerce,  which  adds  to 
the  productions  of  each  individual  country  the  productions  of 
every  other  country,  we  then  get  a  vastly  enlarged  idea  of  the 
profuse  benevolence  of  Heaven  towards  man. 

Except  it  be  on  mature  reflection,  we  have  but  a  very  in- 
adequate conception  of  the  multiplicity  of  productions  and  ma- 
terials which  we  use  in  our  common  every-day  life  ;  and  of  the 
varied  labor  and  skill  which  are  forced  into  our  service  either 
to  supply  our  necessities  or  to  minister  to  our  luxuries.  It  is, 
however,  only  for  the  civilized  and  more  advanced  state  of  man 
that  the  Universal  Father  has  provided  such  bountiful  and 
varied  resources.  Man  in  his  savage  condition  needs  little, 
and  appropriates  little  to  his  use.  Had  Providence  had  re- 
spect to  man  only  in  his  barbarous  condition,  and  had  he  been 


48  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

pleased  that  he  should  remain  in  that  condition,  he  would 
have  formed  neither  the  mine  nor  the  quarry,  the  field  bearing 
its  rich  and  varied  harvests,  nor  the  cattle  on  the  hills ;  nor 
would  he  have  endowed  man  with  such  diversities  of  gifts,  and 
with  such  a  versatility  of  genius  and  talent.  So  multiform  and 
so  multifarious,  indeed,  are  the  supplies  provided  for  all  man's 
wants  and  wishes,  that  the  most  fertile  imagination  can  scarce- 
ly conceive  of  one  which  Nature  has  not  provided  for,  either  in 
the  shape  of  a  direct  product,  or  in  the  inventive  genius,  or  the 
artistic  skill  of  some  secondary  agent  who  can  produce  it. 

We  will  call  up  a  few  instances  by  which  to  illustrate  the 
thought.  We  will  take  for  our  first  example  a  common  labor- 
ing man,  a  mechanic  or  a  farmer ;  and  we  shall  see  that  his 
simple  wants  imply  an  amount  and  variety  in  the  provisions 
God  has  made  for  his  support,  which  we  did  not  at  first  an- 
ticipate. And,  further,  we  will  suppose  this  individual  to  need 
only  a  house  and  its  furniture,  food  and  apparel,  modes  of  con- 
veyance, and  the  tools  and  implements  of  his  calling.  Yet  we 
shall  see  how  he  seems  to  be  taxing  the  industry  and  skill  of 
the  world  to  supply  only  a  part  of  his  wants.  I  shall  not  at- 
tempt to  enumerate  all  the  ways  and  means  by  which  these 
wants  are  supplied,  but  may  name  enough  to  give  force  to  the 
above  remarks.  We  will  first  take  the  man,  cap-a-pie,  as  he 
stands  ;  and  then,  as  he  eats,  sleeps  and  works. 

We  begin  with  his  hat :  how  many  materials  enter  into  its 
fabric — its  body  of  fur  and  wool — its  lining  of  silk,  leather  and 
paper — its  sizing,  band  and  buckle,  of  materials  brought  from 
different  quarters  of  the  globe.  How  many  persons  are  en- 
gaged in  trapping  the  beaver,  and  preparing  the  fur — how 
many  in  growing  the  wool  (after  that  pastures  had  been  made 


HOW   MANY   HANDS   MAKE   A   MANS   COAT.  49 

by  the  Hand  divine  with  a  befitting  soil  to  rear  the  grass  that 
fed  the  sheep),  and  in  carding  and  preparing  the  wool  for  the 
felt — how  many  in  cultivating  and  feeding  silk-worms,  and 
winding  and  weaving  and  coloring  the  silk — how  many  persons 
engaged  and  how  many  materials  used  in  tanning,  dyeing,  and 
preparing  the  leather,  and  in  making  the  paper.  And  when 
all  the  materials  for  the  structure  are  made  ready,  then  how 
many  operations  are  performed,  and  how  many  persons  em- 
ployed in  the  manufacture  itself:  to  say  nothing  of  the  different 
minerals  and  metals  and  woods  used  either  in  dyeing  and  manu- 
facturing, or  in  the  form  of  implements,  vessels  and  tools. 

In  the  preparation  of  his  coat  a  like  variety  of  agents  and 
materials  are  employed :  the  growing  of  the  wool,  the  carding, 
spinning  and  weaving — the  fulling  and  dressing  of  the  cloth, 
and  the  cutting,  sewing  and  making  the  garment.  And  to  all 
these  we  have  to  add,  as  not  the  least  in  the  account,  all  the 
metals  and  minerals,  and  the  numerous  other  substances  which 
compose  the  machinery  used  for  the  various  manufacturing 
operations  to  which  I  have  referred.  Could  we  annihilate  every 
field,  and  mine,  and  quarry,  and  every  substance  which  con- 
tributes to  the  structure  of  a  man's  coat,  we  should  at  once  put 
out  of  existence  most  of  the  great  motive  powers  that  keep  the 
world  in  action.  "We  should  produce  a  chasm — a  great  gulf, 
which  human  progress  could  never  pass.  Almost  every  clime 
has  made  its  contribution  to  form  the  coat.  A  suitable  soil, 
the  product  of  the  Divine  skill,  fed  the  sheep  that  gave  the 
wool  that  made  the  coat.  Coal,  iron,  l$ad,  tin,  zinc,  and  I 
know  not  how  many  other  substances  and  agents,  combined  to 
form  the  garment. 

And  so  we  may  say  of  the  cotton  and  linen  garments 
3 


50  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

which  go  to  make  up  the  remaining  portion  of  his  wardrobe. 
The  materials  were  cultivated  in  lands  on  the  other  side  of  the 
globe,  and  could  not  serve  their  present  purpose  until  they  had 
been  transferred  here — not  till  the  large  merchantman  or 
the  steamer  had  been  constructed  out  of  materials  that  again 
taxed  every  field  and  forest  and  mine,  and  employed  a  great 
amount  and  variety  of  skill  and  labor  for  its  construction  and 
outfit.  His  shoes,  also,  were  not  fitted  to  his  feet  till  the  ma- 
terials of  which  they  were  made  had  passed  through  a  great 
variety  of  operations,  and  a  yet  greater  variety  of  materials 
were  employed. 

And  if  we  put  into  his  pocket  a  watch,  a  knife  and  a  pen- 
cil, we  shall  meet  in  his  garb  a  still  further  representation  of 
the  exuberant  provision  which  nature  has  made  for  the  comfort 
of  man.  Every  continent  has  contributed,  and  every  substance 
ministers  to  his  well-being. 

But  he  must  be  housed — he  must  eat,  sleep,  move  from 
place  to  place,  and  work.  How  many  kinds  of  wood  enter 
into  the  structure  of  his  house  ;  how  many  metals  and  miner- 
als— common  stone  and  marble,  clay,  sand,  lime,  hair ;  glass, 
paint  and  cordage.  And  his  furniture  is  composed  of  a  still 
greater  variety  of  materials.  We  should  find  no  end  in  an  at- 
tempt to  trace  out,  and  trace  up  to  their  origin,  all  the  sub- 
stances used  by  the  cabinetmaker,  the  upholsterer,  the  carpenter, 
the  carpet-maker,  and  the  various  artificers  of  all  the  woollens 
and  linens  and  cottons  and  silks  ;  of  the  china  and  glass  and 
porcelain ;  and  of  kitchen  utensils,  stoves,  and  all  manner  of 
implements,  vessels  and  appurtenances,  in  and  about  his  house, 
good  and  bad,  clean  and  unclean. 

But  his  food  levies,  perhaps,  a  still  more  extensive  contri- 


FOOD   AND   LOCOMOTION.  51 

bution  on  the  productions  of  the  whole  world,  than  either  his 
house  or  his  apparel.  Though  each  individual  country  furnishes 
to  its  respective  population  all  the  absolute  necessities  of  sub- 
sistence, yet  the  comforts  of  the  civilized  man's  table,  and  es- 
pecially his  luxuries,  are  the  product  of  every  land.  How  many 
fields  and  grazing  grounds  supply  his  breadstuff's  and  meats. 
Seas  and  rivers  yield  him  fish.  Tropical  lands  supply  tea, 
coffee,  sugar,  sweetmeats  and  spices ;  and  temperate  climates, 
a  great  variety  of  delicious  fruits  and  vegetables.  The  forests 
afford  him  game  ;  the  sea,  salt ;  and  every  land,  something 
that  ministers  to  the  palate. 

Again,  would  we  know  what  a  variety  of  materials  are  re 
quisite  to  enable  a  man  to  move  from  place  to  place  in  a  car- 
riage, railway  car,  or  a  steamship,  we  must  first  be  able  to 
analyze  the  structure  of  one  of  these  locomotive  conveyances, 
and  to  enumerate  the  number  and  variety  of  materials,  metallic, 
animal  and  vegetable,  which  enter  into  the  structure.  And  in 
like  manner  we  might  speak  of  the  implements  with  which  the 
man  works,  and  the  various  devices  by  which  he  saves  muscu- 
lar labor. 

Until  we  descend  to  particulars,  we  have  but  a  very  inade- 
quate conception  of  the  immense  multiplicity  of  things  which 
God  has  made,  and  of  the  immense  number  which  we  use  in 
the  common  affairs  of  life.  "  Oh  Lord,  how  manifold  are  thy 
works  ;  in  wisdom  hast  thou  made  them  all :  the  earth  is  full 
of  thy  riches." 

We  may  here  quote  the  glowing  language  of  another.* 
"  Wherever  we  turn  our  eyes  in  the  world  around  us,  we  be- 

*  Dr.  Dick,  in  the  "  Philosophy  of  Religion." 


52  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

hold  innumerable  instances  of  our  Creator's  beneficence.  In 
order  that  the  eye  and  the  imagination  may  be  gratified  and 
charmed,  he  has  spread  over  the  surface  of  our  terrestrial  habi- 
tation an  assemblage  of  the  richest  colors  "which  beautify  and 
adorn  the  landscape  of  the  earth,  and  present  to  our  view  a 
picturesque  and  diversified  scenery  which  is  highly  gratifying 
to  the  principle  of  novelty  implanted  in  the  human  mind.  On 
all  sides  we  behold  a  rich  variety  of  beauty  and  magnificence. 
Here  spread  the  wide  plains  of  fertile  fields,  adorned  with 
fruits  and  verdure ;  there  the  hills  rise  in  gentle  slopes,  and 
the  mountains  rear  their  snowy  tops  to  the  clouds,  distilling 
from  their  sides  the  brooks  and  rivers  which  enliven  and  fertil- 
ize the  plains  through  which  they  flow.  Here  the  lake  stretches 
into  a  smooth  expanse  in  the  bosom  of  the  mountains  ;  there 
the  rivers  meander  through  the  forests  and  the  flowery  fields,  di- 
versifying the  rural  scene,  and  distributing  health  and  fertility 
in  their  train.  Here  we  behold  the  rugged  cliff;  there  we  are 
charmed  with  the  verdure  of  the  meadow,  the  enamel  of  flowers, 
the  azure  of  the  sky,  the  gay  coloring  of  the  morning  and  the 
evening  clouds.  In  order  that  this  scene  of  beauty  and  magnifi- 
cence might  be  rendered  visible,  He  formed  the  element  of 
light,  without  which  the  expanse  of  the  Universe  would  be  a 
boundless  desert,  and  its  beauties  forever  veiled  from  our  sight. 
It  opens  to  our  view  the  mountains,  the  hills,  the  vales,  the 
woods,  the  lawns,  the  flocks,  the  herds,  the  wonders  of  the 
mighty  deep,  and  the  radiant  orbs  of  heaven.  It  paints  a 
thousand  different  hues  on  the  objects  around  us,  and  promotes 
a  cheerful  and  extensive  intercourse  among  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  globe." 

A  geographical  survey  of  the  earth  introduces  us  at  once 


TIII:  i,or\i>i  i    -   Kicmcs  OK  NATI  I:K.  53 

into  the  cxhaustless  storehouse  of  Nature's  riches.  We  can 
never  cease  to  admire  the  unbounded  liberality  of  the  Di\  un- 
hand when  employed  to  supply  the  wants  of  man  through  the 
varied  resources  which  the  earth  is  made  to  produce.  The 
strangely  varied  surface  of  the  earth  which  geography  pre- 
sents; diversified  climates  and  soils;  the  different  elevations 
and  depressions  of  land ;  mines  of  every  metal  and  mineral ; 
and,  indeed,  all  the  singularly  varied  productions  of  the  land, 
and  the  sea,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  air — all  conduce  to 
magnify  the  wisdom  and  skill  of  the  wonderful  Architect ;  and 

to  direct  all  eyes,  and  to  raise  all  hearts  to  the  great  bountiful 
One  who  opens  his  hands  and  all  the  \\aiits  of  all  his  creatures 
are  liberally  supplied. 

These  thoughts  are  but  the  echo  of  the  inspired  utterances 
of  the  royal  Psalmist.      In  the  one   hundred   and  fourth  psalm, 

he  celebrates  the  glorious  attributes  of  Jehovah,  as  displayed  in 
the  creation  of  this  globe,  both  land  and  water — the  stock  in;-; 
the  land  and  the  sea,  respectively,  with  a  superabundance  of 
living  creatures — the  provision  made  for  their  subsistence  both 
as  to  food  and  water,  and  the  arrangement  made,  by  means  of 
day  and  night,  for  the  labor,  refreshment  and  protection  of 
man.  "He  sendeth  the  springs  into  the  valleys  which  run 
among  the  hills.  They  give  drink  to  every  beast  of  the  field  : 
the  wild  asses  quench  their  thirst.  By  them  shall  the  fowls  of 
the  heaven  have  their  habitation,  which  sing  among  the 
branches.  Ho  watcrcth  the  hills  from  his  chambers :  the  earl  h 
is  satisfied  with  the  fruit  of  thy  works.  Ho  causeth  the  grass 
to  grow  for  the  cattle,  and  herbs  for  the  service  of  man  :  that, 
he  may  bring  forth  food  out  of  the  earth ;  and  wine  that  maketh 
glad  the  heart  of  man,  and  oil  that  maketh  his  face  to  shine, 


54  THE  PALACE   OF   THE   GEEAT   KING. 

and  bread  which  strengtheneth  man's  heart.  The  trees  of  the 
Lord  are  full  of  sap,  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  which  he  hath 
planted,  where  the  birds  make  their  nests.  The  hills  are  a  ref- 
uge for  the  wild  goats  and  the  rocks  for  the  conies."  How 
strangely  benevolent  all  these  arrangements,  by  which  the 
wants  and  conveniences  of  all  his  creatures  are  so  timely  and 
bountifully  provided  for.  Who  has  not  admired  the  provision 
made  to  supply  animals  of  every  grade  and  clime  with  fresh 
water  f  The  great  reservoir  is  salt,  yet  it  sends  forth  sweet 
streams  into  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  earth.  The  Great 
Architect  has  perforated  this  ball  in  every  conceivable  direc- 
tion with  water-courses,  through  which  he  sends  to  every  door 
the  needed  fluid.  The  inhabitants  of  the  wilds,  the  rovers  in 
the  desert,  the  tenants  of  the  rocks,  all  receive  in  due  time 
their  supply  of  this  indispensable  beverage. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  ELEMENTARY  PARTICLES  of  Things— Varieties  Chemical— The  same  law  of 
Yariety  pervades  the  Atomic  "World — "  Ultimate  Molecules,"  or  Elementary 
Particles— The  Particles  composing  a  Eay  of  Light  or  a  Drop  of  Water. 

"  MEASURED  on  the  vast  scale  of  the  universe,  the  globe  we  in- 
habit appears  but  an  atom ;  and  yet,  within  the  compass  of 
this  atom,  what  an  inexhaustible  variety  of  objects  is  con- 
tained! what  an  endless  diversity  of  phenomena !  what  won- 
derful changes  are  occurring  in  rapid  and  perpetual  succession  ! 
Throughout  the  whole  series  of  terrestrial  beings,  what  stud- 
ied arrangements,  what  preconcerted  adaptations,  what  mul- 
tiplied evidences  of  intention,  what  signal  proofs  of  beneficent 
design  exist  to  attract  our  notice,  to  excite  our  curiosity,  and  to 
animate  our  inquiries ! "  We  are  amazed  at  the  monuments 
of  the  divine  power  and  wisdom  which  we  behold  in  the  bound- 
less firmament  of  the  heavens.  No  human  intellect  can  com- 
prehend such  grandeur ;  no  imagination  can  measure  it.  Yet 
not  the  less  wonderful  are  the  manifestations  of  the  same  di- 
vine attributes,  as  seen  displayed  in  the  less  magnificent  and 
the  more  minute  operations  on  our  own  planet. 

We  have  taken  a  hasty  survey  of  our  world  as  a  whole,  and 
as  seen  through  the  eyes  of  the  geographer.     We  have  seen 

*  Bridgewater  Treatise,  by  Peter  Mark  Koget. 


56  THE   PALACE   OF   T3E   GREAT   KING. 

into  how  many  tens  of  thousands  of  shapes,  and  forms,  and  na- 
tures, matter  has  been  moulded,  so  as  to  produce  a  countless 
number  of  objects,  all  fitted  to  gratify  the  taste,  to  please  the 
eye,  to  minister  to  the  appetite,  and  to  meet  the  wants  and  ne- 
cessities of  man.  This  will  appear  still  more  obvious,  as  we 
shall,  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  consider  more  in  detail  the 
vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms. 

But  let  us  pause  here  for  a  few  moments  and  humbly  seek 
admittance  into  Nature's  secret  laboratory,  and  try  to  gain 
some  little  acquaintance  at  least  with  the  primordial  materials 
— the  elementary  particles  of  which  all  this  singularly  diver- 
sified world  of  beings  is  made.  While  the  telescope  has  thrown 
open  to  our  view  illimitable  fields  of  space  before  untraversed, 
all  radiant  with  sparkling  worlds,  and  beyond  these,  still  unex- 
plored fields,  of  whose  extent  we  can  form  no  conception, 
the  microscope,  on  the  other  hand,  has  brought  within  our 
range  of  vision  u  the  more  diminutive  objects  of  creation,  and 
revealed  to  us  many  of  the  secrets  of  their  structure  and  ar- 
rangement." But  our  concern  at  present  is  not  with  structures 
or  arrangements,  however  inconceivably  minute  these  may  be. 
There  is  not  a  grain  of  sand,  there  is  not  an  animalcule  so 
small  that  it  has  not  its  component  parts,  and  is  made  up  of 
original  materials.  We  are  here  conducted  back  a  step  be- 
yond any  structure  or  organization  of  matter ;  and  here  open 
to  our  view  wonders  more  wonderful,  if  possible,  than  we  get 
by  any  survey  we  are  able  to  take  of  the  vastness  of  the  starry 
heavens. 

Philosophy  teaches  that  "  there  exist  worlds  far  removed 
from  the  cognizance  of  every  human  sense,  however  assisted  by 
the  utmost  refinements  of  art;  worlds -occupied  by  the  elemen- 


MOLECULES  I    DIVISIBILITY.       .  57 

tary  corpuscles  of  matter,  composing,  by  their  various  con- 
figurations, systems  upon  systems,  and  comprising  endless 
diversities  of  motions,  of  complicated  changes,  and  of  widely 
extended  series  of  causes  and  effects,  destined  forever  to  remain 
invisible  to  human  eyes  and  inscrutable  to  human  science." 
All  matter,  whether  it  be  moulded  into  a  metal  or  a  mineral,  or 
whether  it  compose  a  vegetable  nature,  or  the  bone,  muscle, 
blood-vessel  or  vein  of  a  living  thing,  is  composed  of  an  infinite 
number  of  molecules.  As  an  instance  from  the  mineral  king- 
dom, Dr.  Thomson  has  shown  that  an  ultimate  molecule  of  lead 
cannot  weigh  more  than  the  STOYO  o-o^o-o^/oo-o-  of  a  grain  ;  and  the 
ultimate  molecule  of  sulphur  no  more  than  the  270  TT.-O  o  oYo  o  oYo  O-Q-  5 
and  that  the  size  of  a  molecule  of  lead  cannot  exceed 

8  8  1T,4  9  2,0  Uoo  0,0  00    °f  »   Cubic   lUck 

The  vegetable  kingdom  presents  us  with  examples  of  the 
extraordinary  divisibility  of  matter  quite  as  remarkable.  But 
we  pass  by  these  that  we  may  quote  a  paragraph  to  illustrate 
the  same  idea  from  the  animal  kingdom.* 

"Animalcules  have  been  discovered  whose  magnitude  is  such 
that  a  million  of  them  does  not  exceed  a  grain  of  sand ;  yet  each  of 
these  creatures  is  composed  of  members  as  curiously  9rganized  as 
those  of  the  largest  species  ;  they  have  life  and  spontaneous  motion, 
and  are  endowed  with  feeling  and  instinct.  In  the  liquids  in  which 
they  live,  they  are  observed  to  move  with  astonishing  speed  and 
activity ;  nor  are  their  motions  blind  and  fortuitous,  but  evidently 
governed  by  choice,  and  directed  to  an  end.  They  use  food  and 
drink,  from  which  they  derive  nutrition,  and  are  therefore  pro- 
vided with  a  digestive  apparatus.  They  have  great  muscular  power 
and  are  provided  with  limbs  and  muscles  of  strength  and  flexibility. 
They  are  susceptible  of  the  same  appetites,  and  obnoxious  to  the 
same  passions.  Must  we  not  conclude  that  these  creatures  have 

*  Dr.  Wm.  Front's  "  Bridgewater  Treatise,"  pp.  23,  24. 
3* 


58  THE   PALACE   OP   THE   GREAT   KING. 

hearts,  arteries,  veins,  muscles,  sinews,  tendons,  nerves,  circulating 
fluids,  and  all  the  concomitant  apparatus  of  a  living  organized 
body  ?  And  if  so,  how  inconceivably  minute  must  these  parts  be. 
If  a  globule  of  their  blood  bears  the  same  proportion  to  their  whole 
bulk  as  a  globule  of  our  blood  bears  to  our  magnitude,  what  power 
of  calculation  can  give  an  adequate  notion  of  its  minuteness." 

But  we  are  not  at  present  concerned  with  the  formations 
of  things,  however  infinitesimal  these  may  be,  and  however 
much,  by  their  inimitable  skill  and  strange  variety  they  may 
enhance  our  admiration  of  the  Great  Architect.  We  are  now 
concerned  with  the  elementary  particles  out  of  which  all  things, 
even  the  minutest  structure  or  organization,  is  formed. 

Though  we  shall  find  enough  to  excite  our  profoundest 
wonder  and  devoutest  adoration  when  we  shall  attempt  to 
enter  the  great  storehouse  of  Nature,  and  contemplate  the 
immense  number  and  variety  of  objects  which  God  has  made, 
from  the  hugest  globe  that  rolls  through  interminable  space,  to 
the  minutest  molecule  that  forms  a  grain  of  sand  ;  and  our  arith- 
metic shall  fail  in  the  attempt  to  enumerate  even  the  manufac- 
tured articles  which  the  eye,  aided  by  the  telescope  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  microscope  on  the  other,  is  able  to  survey ;  yet 
we  shall  not  be  the  less  amazed  as  we  attempt  to  examine  the 
raw  material,  if  I  may  so  speak,  out  of  which  all  these  things 
are  made.  Here  we  find  ourselves  amidst  worlds  of  wonders  yet 
more  incomprehensible.  If  we  shall  be  able,  in  any  degree,  to 
look  in  upon  the  great  universe  of  primordial  particles  (the 
atomic  chaos  of  things),  we  may  gain  some  more  definite  idea  of 
those  wonderful  operations  which  first  gave  to  matter  its  present 
endlessly  varied  forms ;  and  the  no  less  wonderful  operations 
which  are  constantly  taking  place  in  every  particle  of  matter 


ELEMENTAEY   PARTICLES.  59 

about  us.     Such  a  view  will  introduce  us  into  what  Paley  calls 
the  "  concealed  and  internal  operations  of  the  machine." 

We  ask  what  is  matter  in  its  original  form,  in  its  elemen- 
tary principles  or  particles  ?  and  whence  and  by  what  means 
all  these  endless  forms  and  shapes,  and  all  these  endlessly 
varied  natures  and  conditions  in  which  we  find  matter  at 
present  ? 

We  have  referred  to  a  globule  of  the  blood  which  flows  in 
the  veins  of  one  of  those  living  atoms,  a  million  of  which  sport 
in  a  drop  of  water.  Now  we  know  that  blood  is  a  substance — a 
compound  substance — and  that  each  of  its  component  parts  is  in 
turn  composed  of  an  infinite  number  of  "  ultimate  molecules," 
or  elementary  particles.  We  cannot  conceive  of  the  existence 
of  an  object  so  small  as  one  of  the  myriads  of  original  particles 
of  a  globule  of  human  blood ;  what  then  must  be  the  size  of  one 
of  the  indefinite  number  of  particles  which  form  a  globule  of  the 
blood  of  one  of  the  animalcules  referred  to  above,  a  "million  of 
which  are  not  larger  than  a  grain  of  sand ; "  or  of  one  of  those 
monads  which  have  been  brought  to  light  by  the  microscopic 
researches  of  Professor  Ehrenbergh.  According  to  his  compu- 
tation, a  cubic  line,  which  is  about  the  bulk  of  a  drop  of  water, 
contains  500,000,000.  Each  one  of  these  he  represents  as 
endowed  with  organs  of  life,  of  motion  and  digestion — has 
muscles,  veins,  arteries,  sinews,  and  nerves.  We  ask  not  what 
is  the  size  of  a  globule  of  their  blood,  but  of  one  of  the  im- 
mense number  of  particles  of  which  that  globule  is  composed. 

Light  and  heat  are  now  conceded  to  be  substances,  every 
ray  of  which  is  composed  of  an  infinite  number  of  particles. 
And  how  minute  indeed  must  be  the  particles  of  light,  that, 
though  they  come  from  the  sun  with  a  velocity  equal  to  200,000 


60  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

miles  in  a  second  of  time,  yet,  notwithstanding  this  tremendous 
velocity,  they  strike  harmless  on  an  object  delicate  as  the 
human  eye.  Were  not  the  particles  almost  infinitely  small, 
the  strongest  eye  could  not  endure  the  light  for  a  moment. 
Had  particles  of  light  been  made  of  such  a  size  that  a  million 
should  equal  a  small  grain  of  sand,  they  would  probably,  with 
such  a  velocity,  pierce  the  eye  with  the  most  excruciating  pain. 
And  not  only  so,  but  such  rays  would  perforate  the  very  crust 
of  the  earth,  and  tatter  to  atoms  every 'living  thing.  And  so 
subtle  are  the  particles  of  this  form  of  matter  that  it  readily 
passes  through  certain  solid  substances,  some  of  them  the  most 
solid.  It  passes  through  one  of  the  densest  bodies  with  perfect 
ease.  And  heat,  so  minute  are  its  elementary  particles,  that 
it  readily  insinuates  itself  through  the  densest  forms  of  matter, 
not  excepting  gold,  acting  on  every  separate  particle  of  what- 
ever body  it  pervades,  and  expanding  the  whole.  Heat  is  pos- 
sibly a  compound  substance,  a  union,  as  some  affirm,  of  elec- 
tricity and  magnetism.  And  what  are  electricity  and  mag- 
netism ?  If  they  are  material,  what  can  estimate  the  size  of 
their  elementary  particles  ? 

And  if  Newton's  hypothesis  of  light  be  the  true  one,  its 
composition  exhibits  an  exquisitely  ingenious  variety  of  work- 
manship. According  to  this  hypothesis,  "the  molecules  of 
light  may  be  regarded  as  little  magnets,  revolving  rapidly 
around  their  centres  while  they  advance  in  their  course,  and 
thus  presenting  alternately  their  attractive  and  repulsive 
poles."  That  is,  every  elementary  particle  of  light  is  a  sort 
of  infinitesimal  miniature  and  representative  of  those  great 
stellar  bodies  in  the  concave  of  the  heavens  that  revolve  about 
their  axis,  and  at  the  same  time  move  on  in  their  respective 


"WOKDEBFUL  TELOCITY    OF   LIGHT.  61 

orbits  with  the  most  astonishing  velocity !  Were  our  sun  the 
only  fountain  of  light  for  the  universe,  we  should  still  attempt 
in  vain  to  form  any  conception  of  the  infinite  divisibility  of 
matter,  and  the  exquisitely  beautiful  workmanship  implied  in 
the  idea  above.  But  when  we  come  to  reflect  that  boundless 
space  is  thickly  studded  with  these  great  light  and  heat-giving 
bodies — millions  of  fixed  stars  or  suns  ;  and  that  every  ray  of 
light  which  emanates  from  each  one  of  these  immense  bodies  is 
composed  of  millions  of  normal  atoms,  each  one  of  which  is 
itself,  as  it  were,  a  sun  revolving  about  its  axis,  and  at  the 
same  time  moving  on  its  course  at  the  rate  of  200,000  miles 
in  a  second  of  time,  we  find  ourselves  attempting  to  get  an 
idea  of  the  handiwork  of  God,  which  surpasses  all  description 
or  conception. 

The  reflection  contained  in  the  following  paragraph  is  suffi- 
ciently apt,  and  the  remarks  and  assertions  respecting  the  ele- 
mentary particles  of  light  are,  at  least,  sufficiently  wonderful, 
to  be  appended  to  what  has  just  been  said.  The  theory  seems 
not  to  differ  essentially  from  that  of  Newton ;  but  the  theory  is 
supposed  to  be  verified,  in  the  manner  which  exceeds  all  human 
conception ;  and,  to  the  untaught  in  the  wonders  and  mysteries 
of  creative  wisdom  and  skill,  it  transcends  all  human  credibility. 
*f  What  mere  assertion  will  make  any  one  believe  that  in 
one  second  of  time,  in  one  beat  of  the  pendulum  of  a  clock,  a 
ray  of  light  travels  over  192,000,  miles,  and  would  therefore 
perform  the  tour  of  the  world  in  about  the  same  time  that  it 
requires  to  wink  with  our  eyelids,  and  in  much  less  than  a 
swift  runner  occupies  in  taking  a  single  stride  ?  What  mortal 
can  be  made  to  believe  without  demonstration  that  the  sun  is 
almost  a  million  times  larger  than  the  earth  ?  and  that,  al- 


62          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GKEAT  KING. 

though  so  remote  from  us  that  a  cannon-ball  shot  directly 
towards  it,  and  maintaining  its  full  speed,  would  be  twenty- 
years  in  reaching  it,  yet  it  affects  the  earth  by  its  attraction 
in  an  inappreciable  instant  of  time  ?  Who  would  not  ask  for 
demonstration,  when  told  that  a  gnat's  wing,  in  its  ordinary 
flight,  beats  many  hundred  times  in  a  second ;  or  that  there 
exist  animated  and  regularly  organized  beings,  many  thousands 
of  whose  bodies,  laid  close  together,  would  not  extend  an  inch  ? 
But  what  are  these  to  the  astonishing  truths  which  modern  op- 
tical inquiries  have  disclosed,  which  teach  us  that  every  point 
of  a  medium  through  which  a  ray  of  light  passes,  is  affected 
with  a  succession  of  periodical  movements,  regularly  recurring 
at  equal  intervals,  no  less  than  five  hundred,  millions  of  mil- 
lions of  times  in  a  single  second !  That  it  is  by  such  move- 
ments communicated  to  the  nerves  of  our  eyes  that  we  see ; — 
nay  more,  that  it  is  the  difference  in  the  frequency  of  their  re- 
currence which  affects  us  with  the  sense  of  the  diversity  of 
color.  That,  for  instance,  in  acquiring  the  sensation  of  red 
ness,  our  eyes  are  affected  four  hundred  and  eighty-two  mil- 
lions of  millions  of  times ;  of  yellowness,  five  hundred  and  forty- 
two  millions  of  millions  of  times ;  and  of  violet,  seven  hundred 
and  seven  millions  of  millions  of  times  per  second!  Do  not 
such  things  sound  more  like  the  ravings  of  madmen  than  the 
sober  conclusions  of  people  in  their  waking  senses?  They 
are,  nevertheless,  conclusions  to  which  any  one  may  most  cer- 
tainly arrive,  who  will  only  be  at  the  trouble  of  examining  the 
chain  of  reasoning  by  which  they  have  been  obtained." 

A  drop  of  water  appears  a  very  simple  thing ;  yet  the  gentle-  •' 
men  of  the  microscope  discover  it  to  be  made  up  of  twenty-six 
millions  of  primary  particles,  among  which  play  an  incredible 


VAPOK,    SNOW,    AND    HAIL.  63 

number  of  animalculae.  The  snow-flake  appears  as  an  object 
scarcely  less  simple.  The  casual  observer  is  satisfied  when 
told  that  this  snow-flake  is  congealed  or  crystallized  particles 
of  water  in  the  vapor  state.  But  the  philosopher  sees  in  it  a 
world  of  interest  beyond  this.  He  sees  the  water  indeed  beau- 
tifully crystallized  ;  but  when  he  comes  to  apply  a  magnifying 
power,  he  lays  open  to  his  vision  a  singular  display  of  beauty 
and  variety.  The  particles  assume  every  conceivable  form. 

The  vapor,  which  when  frozen,  produced  the  snow,  is  water 
whose  particles  are  separated  and  diffused  by  heat.  A  flake 
of  snow  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  a  collection  of  these  dif- 
fused particles  of  water  frozen  and  crystallized :  each  particle 
forming  a  distinct  crystal,  and  the  several  crystals  displaying 
as  many  distinct  and  beautiful  varieties. 

Captain  Scoresby,  who  gave  much  attention  to  this  subject, 
has  given  a  delineation  of  a  great  number  of  these  crystals. 
While  each  is  exquisitely  beautiful,  no  two  are  alike.  Or  if 
the  water  of  the  atmosphere  be  condensed  into  drops,  and  in 
its  descent  congeals  and  falls  in  the  shape  of  hail,  a  somewhat 
similar  phenomenon  is  observed.  These  hail-stones  assume  an 
endless  variety  of  forms — endless,  as  far  as  human  observation 
extends.  Some  are  round,  others  angular,  or  pyramidal,  or 
flat ;  sometimes  they  are  stellated  with  radii ;  and  it  is  yet  to 
be  discovered  if  there  be  two  hail-stones  of  precisely  the  same 
size  or  shape. 

But  we  would  pass  from  the  great  chaotic  mass  of  un- 
wrought  material  to  the  ingenious  working-up  of  this  material 
by  the  plastic  hand  of  Nature.  But  before  we  would  quit  Na- 
ture's great  storehouse  and  pass  on  to  Nature's  great  workshop, 
we  would  raise  a  single  suggestive  inquiry.  It  relates  to  the 


64  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

size  and  form  of  the  primordial  particles  of  which  all  existing 
things  are  made.  Are  they  all  of  the  same  uniform  size  and 
form,  as  some  have  affirmed ;  or  does  not  this  vast  and  limit- 
less .primordial  universe  of  which  we  have  been  speaking,  pre- 
sent the  same  wonderful  diversity  of  dimensions  and  shapes  as 
the  microscopic  or  the  telescopic  universe  of  made  objects  does, 
or  as  does  the  visible  world  about  us  ? 

To  assume  that  the  same  law  of  variety  does  not  pervade  the 
whole  atomic  world,  is  to  presume  that  the  original,  and  the 
most  wonderful,  and  most  numerous  portion  of  God's  works 
is  not  in  analogy  with  all  his  other  works  with  which  we  are 
acquainted;  for,  in  all  things  which  fall  within  unassisted 
human  vision,  and  as  far  as  telescopic  or  microscopic  vision  ex- 
tends, there  is  no  exception.  Variety  is  there  the  order  of 
creation.  And  we  are  probably  safe  in  the  conjecture  that  if 
microscopic  vision  shall  ever  be  able  to  examine  the  forms  and 
dimensions  of  the  primary  particles  of  things,  these  will  be 
found  to  be  subjected  to  the  same  general  law  of  variety.  The 
idea  is  perfectly  incomprehensible,  yet  incomprehensible  only 
because  we  cannot  comprehend  infinity.  We  readily  admit 
the  idea  that  infinite  skill  and  power  can  create  objects  in  infi- 
nite number  and  variety,  though  we  cannot  comprehend  how 
much  is  included  in  the  term  infinite  variety.  So  that  how- 
ever beyond  human  conception  it  may  be,  yet  it  may  neverthe- 
less be  true  that  of  all  the  countless  number  of  particles  that 
compose  the  universe,  no  two  are  alike.  However  great  this  num- 
ber may  be,  it  is  something  less  than  infinite.  If  infinite  variety 
be  possible,  certainly  the  variety  in  question  is  at  least  as  pos- 
sible. We  can  form  no  definite  conception  how  the  particles 
composing  a  drop  of  water  should  contain  twenty-six  million 


INFINITE   DIVISIBILITY.  65 

varieties,  and  that  there  should  exist  in  that  drop  five  hundred 
millions  of  monads,  containing  as  many  more  distinct  varieties. 
And  more  difficult  is  it  to  conceive  that  each  of  the  sixty-two 
millions  five  hundred  thousand  of  teeth  that  lock  together  the 
five  millions  of  fibres  which  compose  the  crystalline  lens,  (the 
hard  central  part  of  a  codfish's  eye,)  should  be  formed  of  an  in- 
definite number  of  molecules ;  and  that  these  should  constitute 
so  many  varieties,  that  no  two  should  be  alike.  And  yet 
more  difficult  is  it  to  comprehend  how  no  two  particles  of  light, 
which  emanate  from  the  sun,  and  which  in  all  past  time  have, 
or  in  all  future  time  shall,  emanate  from  our  sun,  and  not  only 
from  our  sun,  but  from  all  the  suns  that  shine  in  the  universe, 
are  alike.  This  is  a  step  further  in  advance  towards  infinity 
than  we  are  able  to  go ;  yet  our  surmise  here  has  to  plead  for 
itself  the  analogy  of  all  we  do  know  of  the  Divine  workman- 
ship. 

The  foregoing  illustrations  find  confirmation  in  the  philoso- 
pher's well-known  doctrine  of  "  Infinite  Divisibility."  Every 
substance  is  doubtless  divisible  (in  theory)  till  we  arrive  at  the 
primordial  particles  of  which  it  is  composed.  This  is  to  us  at 
least,  infinite.  The  following  paragraphs  from  the  "  Scientific 
American  "  give  some  just  idea  of  the  subject  we  are  consider- 
ing : 

"Divisibility  is  a  property  possessed  by  all  bodies,  and  means 
their  capability  to  be  separated  into  parts. 

"  It  was  formerly  a  question  among  philosophers  whether  matter 
was  capable  of  being  divided  ad  infinitum^  or  whether  there  was  a 
limit  beyond  which  matter  could  not  be  divided.  The  question  is 
incapable  of  direct  solution,  and  fortunately  science  does  not  require 
that  it  should  be  known  ;  but  the  extent  to  which  subdivision  has 
been  carried  in  the  arts  is  prodigious.  In  the  gilding  of  buttons, 
five  grains  of  gold,  which  is  applied  as  an  amalgam  with  mercury,  is 


66  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

allowed  to  a  gross ;  so  that  the  coating  left  must  not  be  more  than 
the  110,000th  part  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  If  a  piece  of  ivory  or 
white  satin  be  immersed  in  a  solution  of  nitre-muriate  of  gold,  and 
exposed  to  a  current  of  nitrogen  gas,  it  will  be  covered  with  a  sur- 
face of  gold  not  exceeding  the  ten-millionth  part  of  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness. 

"  A  single  grain  of  blue  vitriol  will  give  an  azure  tint  to  five  gal- 
lons of  water.  In  this  case,  the  copper  must  be  attenuated  ten  mil- 
lion times,  and  yet  there  is  sufficient  in  each  drop  of  water  to  give 
it  color.  Odors  are  capable  of  still  further  diffusion  ;  a  single  grain 
of  musk  has  been  known  to  scent  a  room  for  twenty  years. 

"  Animal  matter,  likewise,  exhibits  many  instances  of  wonderful 
subdivision.  The  milt  of  a  codfish,  when  it  begins  to  putrefy,  has 
been  estimated  to  contain  a  billion  of  perfect  insects,  so  that  thou- 
sands of  these  little  lives  could  be  lifted  on  the  point  of  a  needle. 
One  of  the  infusorial  animalculae  found  in  duck-weed  is  ten  million 
times  smaller  than  a  hemp  seed  ;  and  another,  discovered  in  ditch 
water,  appears  in  the  field  of  a  microscope  a  mere  atom,  endowed 
with  sentient  life,  and  millions  of  them  play,  like  sunbeams,  in  a  single 
drop  of  liquid." 

"  Among  the  curiosities  shown  at  Alnwick  Castle,  in  England, 
is  a  vase,  taken  from  an  Egyptian  catacomb.  It  is  full  of  a  mixture 
of  gum,  resins,  &c.,  which  give  forth  an  agreeable  odor  to  the  pres- 
ent day,  although  probably  fully  3,000  years  old !  " 

But  enough  of  this  great  chaos  of  atoms — of  this  endlessly 
multitudinous  universe  of  molecules.  We  now  enter  the  great 
workshop  and  try  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  how  things  are  made, 
as  well  as  out  of  what  they  are  made. 

The  idea  which  has  been  advanced  is,  in  the  language  of 
Dr.  John  Pye  Smith,  that  "  the  original  act  of  creation  provided 
the  primordial  particles,  by  a  combination  of  which  all  material 
and  all  organized  matters  have  been  formed."  These  particles, 
then,  mingled  together  in- one  great  chaotic  mass — a  great  dead 
globular  lump,  empty  and  waste,  "  without  form  and  void  " — 
were,  at  the  period  when  Moses  commences  his  history,  endowed 


HOW   GOD   CEEATED   ALL   THINGS.  67 

with  certain  "  repellant  and  adhesive  forces,"  perhaps  assisted 
by,  if  not  composed  of  electricity  and  magnetism,  which  in  their 
singular  action  worked  out  all  the  formations  of  things  as  we 
see  them.  We  call  these  forces,  with  which  every  particle  of 
primeval  matter  is  endowed,  and  which  seem  to  act  on  every 
particle  separately,  "  the  laws  of  nature."  Through  the  mighty 
agency  of  these  forces — forces  so  quiet  in  their  operation,  and 
so  invisible  to  the  eye  of  art  or  science,  that  we  know  of  them 
only  by  their  agency — He  that  said  "  Let  there  be  light,  and 
there  was  light,"  holds  at  ready  command  every  separate  parti- 
cle of  matter  in  the  universe. 

We  may  at  least  suggest  the  inquiry  whether,  when  God 
said  "  Let  there  be  light,"  this  was  not  the  fiat  which  sent  on 
their  mission  the  potent  energies  of  light  and  heat  (including 
electricity  and  magnetism)  in  the  first  great  moulding  process 
among  the  heretofore  chaotic  elements  of  nature.  The  great 
forming  and  vivifying  agency  was  now  set  in  motion,  and 
henceforward  matter  is  seen  to  assume  endlessly  varied  forms. 
And  as  these  mysterious  forces  (the  laws  of  nature)  are  kept 
in  action  under  the  guidance  of  Omniscient  benevolence,  they 
produce  all  those  endless  changes,  forms,  varieties,  natures  and 
conditions,  and  all  the  multiplicity  of  objects  which  constitute 
the  entire  universe  of  matter,  and  determine  the  condition  of 
the  whole  world  of  life. 

The  Creator  and  constant  controller  of  all  things,  can  have 
occasion  to  form  nothing  so  subtle  or  minute,  nothing  so  huge 
or  ponderous  which  he  cannot  form  out  of  such  material.  Did 
he  foresee  that  the  comfort  and  future  progress  of  his  creature 
man  would  require  an  ocean  here  and  a  river  there  ;  here  a 
bay,  or  a  creek,  or  a  refreshing  stream,  and  there  a  mountain, 


68  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

a  valley  or  a  meadow,  lie  had  only  so  to  control  these  forces  at 
his  command,  as  to  produce  the  desired  end,  and  it  was  done. 
When  the  vivifying  and  all-adjusting  Spirit  moved  on  the  face 
of  the  chaotic  mass  ;  when  the  Creator  took  in  hand  first  to  fit 
up  this  globe  of  ours  for  the  habitation  of  man,  or  to  readjust 
its  surface  at  the  time  of  the  deluge,  he  made  just  such  an  al- 
lotment of  particles  as  was  needful  to  form  the  waters  and  the 
dry  land  in  due  proportions,  and  ordered  just  such  a  retreat  of 
the  waters  after  the  flood,  and  such  a  subsidence  of  solid  mat- 
ter— such  elevations  and  depressions  of  the  land  as  should  se- 
cure the  location  of  every  river,  lake,  sea  or  streamlet  in  pre- 
cisely the  right  place.  And  so  in  the  formation  of  every  con- 
ceivable variety  of  soil,  of  every  meadow,  forest  and  mine — of 
every  metal  or  mineral,  and  of  every  living  thing.  It  was 
Omniscient  forethought  that  brought  together  just  the  right 
particles  to  form  in  its  respective  place  the  diamond,  the  silver, 
or  the  gold ;  the  iron,  the  coal  or  the  precious  stone ;  or  to 
give  being  to  the  monster  of  the  deep,  or  to  the  tiniest  mite 
that  lives. 

One  adjustment  of  particles  produces  a  hard  body,  another 
a  soft,  or  a  porous,  or  an  elastic  body ;  one,  a  ductile,  another, 
a  malleable  body.  One  arrangement  produces  a  body  which 
will  freely  transmit  the  rays  of  light,  as  glass ;  another  con- 
struction produces  a  translucent  body  which  transmits  rays  but 
imperfectly.  An  ingenious  composition  of  particles  in  one  body 
reflects  only  the  red  rays  of  light,  and  consequently  the  body 
appears  red.  Others  reflect  only  the  blue,  or  the  green,  or  the 
violet  rays,  and  appear  of  a  corresponding  color.  Some  reflect 
all  the  rays,  and  are  consequently  white ;  others  reflect  no 
rays,  and  are  black.  We  here  discover  the  causes  of  all  the 


COLORS  :    QUANTITIES   AND   QUALITIES.  69 

varied  colors  and  tints  of  color  which  please  the  eye  and  beau- 
tify the  landscape ;  and  of  all  the  fragrant  odors  by  which  we 
are  regaled,  and  all  the  sweet  flowers  and  delicious  fruits  which 
we  enjoy,  and  the  endless  varieties  of  food  which  the  earth 
yields  us — and  of  all  different  natures  and  varieties  of  every 
created  thing.  All  is  the  result  of  that  Omniscient  forethought 
and  exhaustless  benevolence  which  orders  precisely  such  a  col- 
lection of  every  individual  particle  as  is  needful  to  produce 
such  a  result.  Whence  the  pure  white  of  the  lily,  the  blush 
of  the  rose,  or  the  tinge  of  the  apple  1  Whence  the  gold,  the 
diamond,  the  plumage  of  the  peacock,  or  the  gilding" of  the  in- 
sect's wing  ?  It  is  the  peculiar  composition  of  those  substances 
which  makes  them  capable  of  reflecting  the  right  sort  of  rays  to 
produce  these  colors.  Not  the  minutest  particle  took  its  place 
in  that  rose-leaf,  or  in  that  insect's  wing,  by  accident. 

But  we  would  present  the  thought  in  one  other  aspect. 
We  refer  to  the  regard  had  in  the  moulding  of  things  into 
their  destined  forms,  to  quantities  and  qualities.  A  due  ad- 
justment of  these  to  each  other,  we  at  once  perceive  is  of  es- 
sential importance  ;  and  such  an  adjustment  as  actually  exists, 
could  have  been  the  result  of  nothing  short  of  Infinite  Wisdom. 
In  all  the  countless  multitude  of  things  which  God  has  made, 
there  is  found  to  be  the  most  exact  regard  had  to  the  quan- 
tities and  qualities  of  matter  which  enter  into  each.  If  these 
were  varied  from  what  they  are  in  the  least  possible  degree, 
the  thing  made  would  be  another  thing  from  what  it  is.  What 
is  a  good  now  would  be  an  evil.  How  different,  and  indeed 
how  disastrous,  if  the  component  parts  of  water,  or  of  air,  had 
been  different  from  what  they  are  ? 

Had  there  been  in  air  a  greater  proportion  of  oxygen  (the 


70  THE  PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

very  principle  of  flame),  the  atmosphere  might  ignite,  and  the 
whole  earth  be  encircled  in  a  conflagration  ;  or  were  the  oxygen 
of  the  air  to  be  diminished  in  any  considerable  degree,  it  would 
not  be  capable  of  supporting  life  or  flame  at  all ;  and  not  only 
so,  but  the  nitrogen  of  the  atmosphere,  if  increased  above  what 
it  is,  would  be  altogether  destructive  to  life  ;  and  in  like  man- 
ner in  relation  to  water.  If  the  ingredients  were  not  com- 
pounded in  precisely  the  quantities  they  are,  this  element 
would  subserve  none  of  its  present  purposes.  It  would  not  be 
water.  By  reducing  the  quantity  of  oxygen,  it  would  become 
inflammable ;  and  by  increasing  its  hydrogen,  if  nothing  more 
disastrous,  its  specific  gravity  would  become  such  as  to  make  it 
of  no  use  in  navigation,  and  probably  as  useless  for  any  other 
practical  purpose.  Similar  remarks  might  be  made  in  respect 
to  any,  or  all  created  things ;  but  for  the  nicest  calculation  in 
respect  to  the  exact  number  and  character  of  primordial  parti- 
cles that  enter  into  the  composition  of  each,  it  would  not  be 
what  it  is,  but  something  else. 

And  there  is  a  like  dependence  on  the  quality.  Suppose 
the  familiar  substances  referred  to,  air  and  water,  were  to 
change  as  to  their  component  natures,  what  calamities  would 
follow  ?  Were,  for  example,  the  important  fluid,  water,  to  be- 
come sour  or  sweet,  heavier  or  lighter,  or  any  thing  but  what 
it  is ;  or  were  the  air  of  the  atmosphere  to  acquire  odor  or 
color,  or  to  become  opaque :  by  either  of  such  changes,  slight 
as  they  appear,  the  whole  of  the  present  economy  of  nature 
would  be  changed.  Again,  "  if  the  qualities  of  the  acid  exist- 
ing in  the  common  salt  of  the  ocean  were  to  become  so  modi- 
fied as  to  quit  the  alkali  with  which  it  is  at  present  asso- 
ciated, and  to  combine  with  the  limestone  composing  our  rocks, 


NATURE'S  GREAT  LABORATORY.        *7l 

while  the  carbonic  acid,  thus  set  free,  was  diffused  through  the 
atmosphere  :  in  such  a  case  a  large  part  of  the  solid  crust  of 
our  globe  would  rapidly  disappear  and  become  dissolved  in  the 
waters  of  the  ocean,  which  would  thus  be  totally  unfitted  for 
their  present  purposes,  while  the  liberated  carbonic  acid  would 
instantly  prove  fatal  to  animal  life."  Such  are  but  specimens 
of  the  disastrous  results  from  changes  apparently  the  most 
trifling ;  and  we  can  scarcely  conceive  of  any  change  which 
would  not  produce  similar  results.  Our  very  useful  article 
called  common  salt,  owes  its  utility  and  its  existence  to  the 
fact  of  its  being  a  composition  of  two  ingredients  in  precisely 
the  proportions  in  which  we  find  them.  The  excess  of  the  one 
over  the  other  would  entirely  change  it,  and  make  it  any  thing 
but  common  salt.  Were  water  either  of  a  greater  or  less  spe- 
cific gravity,  it  would  be  of  no  use  in  navigation.  If  water  were 
a  lighter  substance,  vessels  would  not  float ;  if  heavier,  no 
power  of  wind  or  steam  would  propel  them  through  it.  In  like 
manner,  marble,  coal,  iron,  gold,  silver  would  instantly  lose 
their  identity  and  cease  to  be  of  service,  if  the  character  of 
their  structure  were  changed. 

We  can  scarcely  contemplate  the  God  of  Nature  in  a  more 
interesting  light  than  when  we  regard  him  as  the  original 
Creator  of  all  matter  and  as  the  great  Architect.  He  first,  out 
of  nothing,  called  into  being  the  material — not  in  masses  or 
tangible  forms  as  we  now  see  them,  but  infinitesimal  molecules 
or  primordial  particles — monads  infinitely  small  and  infinitely 
numerous,  and  probably  of  infinite  variety — and  out  of  these 
he  made  an  endless  variety  of  objects,  mineral,  vegetable,  and 
animal ;  and  these  are  endowed  with  natures  and  properties, 
and  are  adapted  to  uses  and  modes  of  existence  and  life  the 


72  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

most  diverse  conceivable.  In  the  view  we  have  now  been  tak- 
ing, we  approach  the  wonderful  Architect  in  the  great  labora- 
tory of  Nature's  Temple,  and  as  we  contemplate  his  incompre- 
hensible skill,  wisdom,  and  power  in  his  primordial  creations, 
and  then  witness  the  exuberantly  varied  and  seemingly  opposite 
results  which  the  plastic  Hand  produces,  by  the  compounding 
and  organizing  into  every  conceivable  shape  and  size  what  has 
been  significantly  termed  the  "ultimate  molecules"  of  the 
original  creation,  we  are  overwhelmed  at  the  idea  which  it 
gives  us  of  the  capabilities  of  the  eternal  Godhead.  We  can 
only  praise,  and  adore,  and  wonder,  but  we  cannot  compre- 
hend. 

The  view  we  have  been  taking  of  the  nature  and  structure 
of  the  material  creation,  suggests  a  reflection  as  to  the  forma- 
tion and  development  of  the  new  spiritual  creation  or  the 
spiritual  life.  Is  the  origin  of  the  new  life  in  the  soul,  its 
growth  and  maturity,  and  final  perfection ;  is  it  absolutely, 
on  the  part  of  the  Omnipotent  Spirit,  a  new  and  positive 
creation,  or  is  it  a  bringing  together  and  concentrating,  and 
giving  life  to  moral  influences  and  impressions  which  before  ex- 
isted ? — the  germination  of  seed  previously  sown,  the  quicken- 
ing into  life  of  agencies  and  influencies  before  existing?  While 
this  detracts  nothing  from  the  power  and  necessity  of  the 
quickening  Spirit,  it  is  analogous  to  the  working  of  the  same 
creating  and  all  quickening  Spirit  in  the  creation  of  the  natural 
world.  But  not  to  insist  on  this  idea,  the  analogy  appears 
more  obvious  as  we  contemplate  the  growth  and  maturity  of 
Christian  character,  and  the  fitness  for  citizenship  in  heaven. 
Here  the  whole  spiritual  structure  is  made  up  of  little  things. 
The  little  events  of  every-day  life,  the  little  impressions  and 


THE   PRIMORDIAL   ELEMENTS    OP   CHARACTER.  73 

influences  which  act  on  the  mind  or  heart ;  the  numberless  little 
opportunities  and  circumstances  for  the  benefit  of  others  or  for 
self-improvement,  or  for  self-discipline,  are,  when  collected, 
combined  and  moulded  by  the  plastic  hand  of  the  life-giving 
Spirit,  the  primordial  elements  which  make  up  the  sum  total 
of  a  man's  character,  and  determine  his  eternal  destiny. 
Death  works  no  change  in  character ;  nor  is  the  future  destiny 
of  the  soul  determined  by  a  few  great  leading  religious  or  irre- 
ligious acts,  but  by  the  whole  web  of  life — which  web  is  made 
up  of  ten  thousand  little  shreds  of  every-day  character. 
4 


CHAPTER   V. 

The  Vegetable  Kingdom :  No  two  Trees,  Plants,  Shrubs  alike— No  two  Leaves, 
Flowers,  Seeds,  or  Fruits.— The  Natures,  Qualities,  and  Uses,  how  different.— 
The  Abundance  of  Vegetable  Productions.— All  formed  of  a  few  Elementary 
Substances. 

IT  would  seem  but  an  obvious  inference  from  what  has  been 
already  said  that  God  never  made  two  objects  alike.  For 
whether  it  be  things  earthly  or  heavenly,  or  things  under  the 
earth — whether  we  ascend  to  'the  boundless  regions  of  the 
telescopic  universe,  or  descend  to  the  innumerable  millions  of 
living  things  and  of  primordial  molecules,  which  form  the  no 
less  wonderful  microscopic  universe,  we  find  no  two  objects 
alike. 

We  turn  to  the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  what  endless 
varieties  meet  us  here.  How  many  kinds  of  trees,  shrubs, 
plants,  vines !  The  earth  is  constantly  yielding  her  endlessly 
varied  productions.  What  a  variety  of  foliage,  flowers,  and 
fruits  regale  the  eye  with  their  varied  beauties,  and  gratify  the 
taste.  How  many  kinds  of  grasses  and  vegetables  all  varie- 
gate the  same  little  spot  of  ground,  and  all  contributing  to 
the  subsistence,  the  health,  and  luxury  of  a  correspondingly 
diversified  family  of  living  creatures.  Not  less  than  100,000 
species  of  plants  and  vegetable  productions  are  enumerated  by 
naturalists  ;  including  individuals  or  real  varieties  amounting 
to  many  millions.  And  then  if  we  admit  into  the  account  the 


COMPOSITION   OF  PLAOTS.  7«5 

fact  that  each  of  these  individual  varieties  contains  its  unknown 
number  of  varieties,  the  aggregate  will  be  inconceivable. 

We  take  for  an  example  a  single  apple-tree,  which  is  but  one 
of  the  varieties  named.  No  two  apple-trees  are  alike.  There 
are  consequently  as  many  varieties  of  this  species  of  tree  as 
as  there  are  individual  trees.  And  not  only  so,  but  there  are 
no  two  leaves,  or  buds,  or  blossoms,  or  fruits,  or  seeds  of  an 
individual  tree  that  are  alike.  Our  arithmetic  would  seem  to 
falter  before  we  should  arrive  at  the  number  of  varieties  which 
grow  out  of  a  single  species  of  plants ;  and  much  less  can  we 
form  any  just  conception  of  the  number  of  actual  varieties 
which  result  from  the  100,000  species  of  vegetable  productions. 
If  we  can  form  no  definite  conception  of  the  number  of 
varieties  which  range  under  one  species,  but  find  ourselves  lost 
in  the  calculation  in  what  to  us  is  infinity,  then  we  can  only 
set  down  the  whole  grand  aggregate  of  all  the  vegetable 
varieties  at  100,000  infinities. 

But  we  have  no  need  to  generalize  or  deal  in  incompre- 
hensibles.  We  may  come  to  matters  of  every-day  observation. 
It  will  add  interest  to  our  contemplations  of  the  subject  before 
us,  if  we  bear  in  mind  while  contemplating  it,  that  all  plants, 
all  vegetable  organizations,  are  compositions  of  nearly  the  same 
component  substances ;  and  these  are  very  few  and  very  simple. 
All  the  endless  varieties  which  exist  are  produced  by  changes, 
apparently  slight,  in  the  amount  and  arrangement  of  the 
original  particles.  The  principal  and  almost  the  only  in- 
gredients which  enter  into  the  composition  of  all  the  vast  mul- 
tiplicity of  vegetable  productions  which  cover  the  earth,  are 
oxygen,  carbon,  and  hydrogen.  All  plants  owe  "their  peculiar 
character  essentially  to  carbon,  and  their  endless  varieties  to 


76  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GEEAT   KING. 

the  differences  in  its  quantity,  and  to  the  modifying  influence 
of  the  hydrogen  and  oxygen  with  which  it  is  associated."  The 
gnarled  oak — the  hardest  wood  or  the  rankest  plant  that 
grows,  is  formed  of  essentially  the  same  materials  as  the  most 
delicate  flower  that  blossoms.  The  difference  is  in  the  infinite 
skill  and  taste  employed  in  the  workmanship  of  the  two.  One 
collocation  of  particles  has  formed  the  giant  tree ;  another,  the 
modest  violet,  or  the  down  on  the  most  minute  and  delicate 
flower. 

It  is  quite  impossible  for  us  to  conceive  how,  simply  by  a 
little  change  of  arrangement,  and  a  little  variation  in  the 
amount  and  proportions  of  materials,  such  an  endless  multitude 
of  objects,  and  such  a  countless  variety,  can  be  produced — 
objects,  though  all  composed  of  the  same  three  or  four  simple 
substances,  yet  so  differ  in  appearance  and  composition  as  to 
seem  to  have  little  or  nothing  in  common. 

We  have  no  need  to  go  into  any  nice  physiological  ex- 
amination of  the  vegetable  world.  Were  we  to  attempt  to 
search  out  all  the  various  compositions,  natures,  properties, 
functions,  and  uses  of  plants,  we  should  almost  at  the  outset 
find  ourselves  overwhelmed  in  infinitude.  We  could  not  num- 
ber one  of  a  thousand  of  the  varieties  which  would  press  upon 
us.  The  most  superficial  view — a  glance  of  the  eye  or  the 
use  of  the  taste  or  the  touch — will  verify  the  remark.  You 
open  your  eyes  on  a  landscape,  and  what  variety  meets  you 
simply  in  the  external  forms  of  things — in  size,  shape,  and 
color.  We  select  the  single  property  of  color.  We  can 
scarcely  meet  a  more  beautiful  illustration  of  our  subject.  The 
prevailing  color  of  the  whole  landscape  is  green.  But  how 
many  shades  of  green  do  you  at  once  discover  ?  You  begin  to 


VARIETIES   IN   THE   LA1ST>SCAPE.  77 

compare  the  green  of  one  species  of  tree  with  that  of  another ; 
of  one  shrub,  or  vine,  or  creeping  plant  with  another.  You  fix 
on  a  grass  plot  and  say  it  is  all  green ;  or  you  contemplate  the 
leaves  of  a  single  tree,  and  declare  that  each  leaf  is  surely  of 
the  same  shade  of  green ;  and  equally  positive  are  you  that 
every  spire  of  the  same  species  of  grass  on  the  same  little  plot 
is  the  same  green ;  yet  as  you  examine  a  little  more  minutely, 
you  begin  to  doubt  the  perfect  identity  of  color  even  here  ;  and 
as  you  bring  a  glass  to  the  aid  of  your  vision,  you  soon  discover 
that  the  color  of  no  two  leaves  of  the  same  tree,  and  no  two 
spires  of  grass  on  the  same  patch  is  precisely  the  same ;  and 
we  know  that  there  are  not  two  of  the  same  form.  The  same 
remark  would  doubtless  be  found  true  of  any  other  color.  You 
would  find  no  end  to  your  attempt  to  enumerate  all  the  dif- 
ferent shades  of  red,  or  black,  or  yellow,  or  orange,  or  violet, 
as  they  are  found  blended  in  the  same  scene.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  you  would  discover  as  many  varieties  of  color  as 
there  were  number  of  objects  contemplated. 

And  the  taste  and  touch  may  be  found  to  detect  another 
series  of  varieties  in  the  same  landscape,  scarcely  less  limited. 
Select  either  of  the  three  qualities  expressed  by  the  terms 
sweet,  sour,  bitter,  and  apply  the  taste,  and  you  will  detect 
every  conceivable  variety  of  the  quality  in  question,  if  not  a 
different  variety  in  every  leaf  of  the  same  tree,  (which  is  not 
impossible  if  the  taste  were  sufficiently  delicate  to  discrimi- 
nate ;)  yet  every  different  species  of  plant  will  offer  a  different 
degree  of  sweetness,  acidity,  or  bitterness. 

Nothing  sooner  arrests  the  attention  of  the  observer  than  the 
abundance  of  vegetable  productions — the  exuberant  provision, 
in  every  conceivable  variety,  which  God  has  made  to  supply 


78  THE  PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

every  possible  want  of  man  or  beast.  The  whole  face  of  the 
earth,  and  almost  every  object  which  belongs  to  the  earth,  is 
strangely  instinct  with  vegetable  life.  And  most  of  this  vege- 
tation is  spontaneous.  Cultivated  or  uncultivated,  sown  or 
not  sown,  the  mountains  and  the  prairies,  the  hills  and  the 
valleys,  and  every  crevice,  nook  and  corner,  will  be  found 
covered  with  verdure.  And  not  only  where  there  is  a  soil  will 
there  be  vegetation,  but  the  rock,  the  bark  of  the  tree,  the  rail 
of  the  fence,  and  the  roof  and  sides  of  the  old  building,  if  un- 
disturbed by  friction,  will  put  forth  their  verdant  crop.  And 
not  only  do  the  moss,  the  fungi,  and  the  vegetable  mould  find 
place  and  nutriment  on  the  rock  or  on  the  wood,  but  some 
species  of  plants  vegetate  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  and 
others  on  the  surface  of  the  snow,  and  others,  again,  on  the 
bodies  of  some  kinds  of  animals.  The  red  snow,  which  is  some- 
times met  in  the  arctic  regions,  is  found  on  examination  to  be 
not  snow  of  a  crimson  color,  but  Nature,  true  to  her  own  law, 
"  be  fruitful  and  multiply,"  produces,  under  circumstances  so 
hopeless,  a  minute  and  singular  vegetation,  causing  it  to  take 
root,  without  soil  or  genial  sunshine,  and  to  derive  its  nourish- 
ment from  the  cold  surface  of  the  snow ;  and  what  is  yet  more 
remarkable,  brick  walls,  tiled  roofs,  and  even  glass,  when  not 
kept  constantly  clean,  afford,  if  not  a  soil,  a  surface  for  the 
growth  of  vegetation.  The  first  plants  that  gain  a  footing  on 
these  surfaces  usually  look  like  a  green  or  yellow  powder. 
These  in  time  decay,  forming  a  little  soil,  on  which  others  of  a 
little  less  diminutive  growth  take  root  and  find  nutriment ; 
and  so  one  generation  succeeds  another  till  a  sufficient  portion 
of  soil  has  accumulated  to  afford  life  and  growth  to  more  per- 


THE   MONARCH   OF  THE  FOREST.  79 

feet  plants.  And,  at  length,  if  the  surface  be  large  enough, 
shrubs  and  trees  will  succeed  to  the  places  of  their  diminutive 
progenitors. 

Placing  under  your  microscope  a  piece  of  vegetable  mould, 
you  behold  a  forest  of  beautiful  trees,  every  plant  of  which  is 
several  hundreds  of  times  smaller  than  a  fine  needle.  We  may 
assume  that  one  of  these  minim  trees,  the  tallest  branch  of 
which  does  not  tower  high  enough  to  overlook  the  finest  silken 
thread,  stands  at  the  lowest  extreme  of  vegetable  organiza- 
tion. From  this  point  we  ascend  through  every  imaginable 
grade  of  vegetable  life,  from  plant,  shrub,  flower  and  tree,  of 
every  possible  form,  size  and  color,  to  the  sturdy  oak,  the 
princely  pine,  and  the  goodly  cedar ;  and  thence  again  through 
less  numerous  but  more  noble  races  to  the  august  monarch  of 
the  great  vegetable  empire.  In  most  imposing  contrast  to  our 
little  tree  of  mould,  sits,  like  a  monarch  of  oriental  magnifi- 
cence and  slothful  ease,  the  majestic  banyan  tree. 

This'  noble  tree,  whose  broad  and  wide-spread  top  is  beau- 
tifully interlaced  with  a  thousand  branches,  and  roofed  with  a 
thick  and  heavy  foliage,  and  laden  with  fruit  that  serves  as  food 
for  various  tribes  of  animals,  rests  upon  one  main  trunk  of  great 
size,  while  its  broad  branches  are  supported  by  a  great  num- 
ber of  lesser  trunks :  some  of  the  latter  being  as  large  as  com- 
mon forest  trees.  The  whole  covers  some  acres  of  ground,  and 
an  army  of  seven  thousand  men  have  been  known  to  encamp 
under  it.  One  of  these  trees,  on  the  banks  of  the  Narbuddy 
Kiver,  is  said  to  inclose  a  surface  of  two  thousand  feet  in  cir- 
cumference when  measured  round  its  principal  branches.  The 
large  trunks  of  this  tree  are  three  hundred  and  fifty,  while  the 


80  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   GEEAT  KING. 

smaller  ones  exceed  three  thousand.     This  is  Nature's  noblest 
specimen  of  workmanship  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.* 

But  we  were  speaking  of  the  prodigality  of  Nature  in  the 
profuseness  of  her  productions.  Production  is  her  law ;  and  in 
obedience  to  this  law  (if  not  an  attempt  to  overstep  it)  we  meet 
a  tendency  in  vegetable  life  to  extend  kself,  which  has  not  left 
uninvaded  the  domains  even  of  animal  life.  Some  species  of 
plants,  as  I  intimated,  find  a  foothold  on  the  bodies  of  animals, 
and  derive  their  nourishment  from  the  same.  They  have  been 
found,  in  the  West  Indies,  vegetating  on  the  bodies  of  living 
wasps.  This  was  formerly  believed  to  be  a  fact  only  in  refer- 
ence to  the  bodies  of  dead  animals.  It  is  now  admitted 
that  several  kinds  of  plants  of  the  mushroom  species,  vegetate 
on  the  bodies  of  living  insects — and  not  on  the  wasp  alone, 
but  on  the  sphynx  and  the  May-bug.  And  other  kinds  of 
plants  have  been  known  to  vegetate  in  the  stomachs  of  living 

*  The  trunks  of  the  banyan  tree  are  matters  of  much  curiosity. 
The  main  trunk  occupies  the  position  and  serves  the  purpose  of  the  trunk 
of  any  tree.  And  when  the  tree  is  young  and  small  it  is  the  only  trunk. 
But  as  the  branches  begin  to  extend  and  need  a  support  they  let  down 
little  strings  like  roots,  which  continue  to  descend  till  they  reach  the 
ground.  There  they  take  root,  grow  with  the  growth  of  the  branch  they 
are  to  support,  and  at  length  become  a  collateral  trunk.  In  like  manner 
every  principal  branch  lets  down  its  support — and  each  branch,  as  it  ex- 
tends and  requires  it,  supplies  itself  with  a  supporting  trunk. 

Around  the  imperial  banyan,  the  pride  of  the  luxuriant  East,  we  may 
range  the  stately  pine,  the  noble  oak,  the  teak,  the  maple,  the  walnut, 
and  a  liberal  variety  of  flower  and  fruit-bearing  trees,  all  generously  con- 
tributing to  the  use  and  luxury  of  man ;  some  for  ornament,  some  for 
food  or  fuel,  and  all  for  purposes  which  enter  substantially  into  the  great 
business  of  human  progress. 


SOURCES   OF  VAEIETY.  81 

animals.  An  instance  of  this  kind  was  singularly  illustrated 
some  years  ago  in  the  case  of  a  codfish.  There  were  found  in 
its  stomach  three  gneiss  pebbles,  on  each  of  which  was  found 
growing  a  plant  of  the  fucus  kind,  of  a  deep  green,  and  nearly 
two  feet  long ;  on  another,  a  plant  one-third  as  long  was  grow- 
ing ;  and  another  of  three  inches  in  length. 

Though  we  can  make  no  definite  estimate  of  the  actual 
number  of  real  varieties  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  we  may 
adopt  a  mode  of  illustration  not  the  less  pleasing  and  much 
more  satisfactory.  We  may  contemplate  the  diversified  charac- 
ter of  the  Divine  workmanship  in  its  relation  to  the  conven- 
ience and  comfort  of  man.  We  shall  here  see  the  whole  ar- 
rangement to  be  fraught  with  Heaven's  beneficence. 

Next  after  the  singular  profusion  which  everywhere 
abounds,  the  manner  in  which  such  rich  profusions  are  made 
to  meet  the  wants  and  wishes  of  man,  attracts  attention. 

Every  season  produces  a  peculiar  variety — so  does  latitude, 
or  elevation  above  the  sea.  The  hill  and  the  valley,  the  dry 
land  and  the  marsh,  the  sandy  and  the  clayey  soil,  each  gives 
life  and  growth  to  a  vegetation  peculiar  to  itself.  Or  the  lati- 
tude and  elevation  may  remain  the  same,  yet  a  difference  of 
soil  will  produce  a  different  vegetation.  It  is  interesting  to 
follow  up  the  vegetable  products  of  the  season.  From  the 
early  spring  to  late  autumn,  what  a  delightful  succession  and 
variety — we  will  say  first  of  flowers  I  We  should  impose  on 
ourselves  a  task  if  we  were  to  attempt  simply  to  enumerate  but 
the  various  species  which  appear  in  beautiful  succession,  week 
after  week,  during  the  season,  and  in  a  single  locality.  From 
the  first  welcome  of  the  dear  little  violet  to  the  blushing  adieu 
of  the  last  rose  or  dahliah,  we  are  never  left  a  day  or  an  hour  with- 


82  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

out  these  delightful  summer  visitors.  And  not  only  have  we 
occasion  to  admire  in  what  beautiful  variety  one  generation  af- 
ter another  joyfully  passes  before  us,  but  when  we  stop  to  con- 
template individual  varieties  we  find  we  had  not  numbered  one 
of  a  thousand.  We  look  upon  a  bed  of  carnations  or  violets 
and  we  count  it  as  one  variety ;  but  as  we  begin  to  examine 
and  compare,  we  find  no  two  individual  blossoms  alike ;  and 
we  soon  make  the  discovery  that  there  are  as  many  varieties 
as  there  are  individual  flowers.  Or  we  look  in  upon  the  great 
and  beautiful  family  of  roses,  and  we  not  only  meet  scores  of 
varieties,  but  every  individual  of  the  same  variety  differs  from 
his  fellow.  We  go  into  the  fruit  orchard  when  in  full  blossom, 
and  admire  a  scene  so  beautifully  variegated  by  the  blossoms 
of  the  apple,  the  pear,  the  peach,  the  cherry,  the  plum ;  but  we 
no  sooner  begin  to  discriminate  than  we  discover  that  each 
individual  apple,  or  peach  or  plum-tree  presents  its  own  pecu- 
liar beauties ;  and  when  we  come  to  apply  a  yet  nicer  discrim- 
ination, we  are  still  more  surprised  to  find  that  no  two  of  the 
ten  thousand  blossoms  on  the  same  tree  are  alike.  This  mul- 
tiplies varieties  beyond  all  conception. 

But  we  stop  not  here.  Though  not  one  blossom  in  ten,  and 
often  not  one  in  a  hundred  or  a  thousand,  produce  seed  or  fruit, 
but  are  merely  the  lovely  expression  of  the  Divine  Goodness  in 
adorning  the  fields  and  groves,  and  perfuming  the  air  for  the 
happiness  of  man,  yet  there  follows  a  corresponding  succession 
and  variety  of  seeds  and  fruits.  In  our  temperate  climate,  from 
the  first  welcome  of  the  delicious  strawberry  to  the  final  exit  of 
the  late  pear  and  the  frost-peach,  we  have  a  pleasant  and  con- 
tinuous succession  of  summer  fruits.  Strawberries,  cherries, 
raspberries,  harvest  pears  and  apples,  currants,  gooseberries, 


A   POETKAITURE    OF   THE   DIVINE   MIND.  83 

plums,  and  a  great  variety  of  melons,  and  the  whole  series  of 
summer  fruits,  supply  our  tables  in  their  season ;  and  then  fol- 
low, during  the  autumn  and  winter,  a  no  less  rich,  and  a  yet 
more  permanent  supply  of  apples.  Or  if  we  extend  our  views 
within  the  tropics,  a  new  world  of  floral  beauty  and  variety, 
and  new  and  yet  more  profuse  supplies  of  fruits,  regale  the 
taste.  Every  country,  every  section,  according  to  its  latitude 
or  height,  has  its  own  peculiar  flowers  and  fruits. 

And  if  what  was  asserted  of  flowers  be  true  (as  it  undoubt- 
edly is)  of  fruits  and  seeds,  then  we  may  expect  to  find  no  two 
apples,  or  peaches,  or  cherries  on  the  same  tree  alike ;  and  we 
again  have  varieties  which  no  man  can  number. 

"  The  vegetable  kingdom,"  s^ays  the  author  of  the  "  Sacred 
History,"  "expands  everywhere  before  us  an  immense  por- 
traiture of  the  Divine  Mind,  in  its  contriving  skill,  profuse 
imagination,  conceiving  genius  and  exquisite  tastes;  as  well 
as  its  interesting  qualities  of  the  most  gracious  benignity  and 
the  most  benevolent  munificence."  We  cannot  too  profoundly 
admire  "that  exuberance  of  imagination  and  taste,  and  the 
sense  of  eloquence  and  beauty,"  which  are  displayed  by  the 
Maker  in  forming  and  diversifying  the  vegetable  world.  All 
these  wondrously  strange  diversities  of  organization  are  "  en- 
tirely the  creation  of  his  choice— the  inventions  of  his  rich  and 
beautiful  fancy.  Their  attractive  shapes  and  quantities,  and 
the  abundant  gratifications  and  important  uses  which  we  and 
our  fellow-animals  derive  from  them,  explicitly  show  that 
kindness  as  well  as  goodness  actuated  his  mind  when  he  pro- 
jected and  made  them.  They  have  been  all  individually  de- 
signed: and  special  thought  must  have  been  employed  on 
each;  both  in  fixing  their  specific  differences  of  form  and 


84  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

products,  and  in  perceiving  what  particular  combinations  and 
variations  of  arrangement  would  effect  in  every  one  its  ap- 
pointed end  and  use." 

But  the  Divine  Goodness  is  not  exhausted  when  He  has 
supplied  man  with  a  choice  variety  of  luxuries.  What  has 
been  said  of  flowers  and  fruits,  may  apply  with  equal  truth  to 
Nature's  varied  supplies  of  grains,  vegetables,  nuts,  spices,  aro- 
matics  and  narcotics;  some  of  which  are  produced  in  nearly  all 
countries,  and  others,  the  products  of  their  respective  regions, 
according  to  their  distance  from  the  equator  or  their  elevation 
above  the  sea.  Not  only  are  man's  wants  liberally  supplied 
and  a  never-failing  provision  made  for  his  domestic  animals, 
and  for  the  wild  tenants  of  the  forest  and  all  the  winged  tribes 
of  the  limitless  domains  of  the  air,  but  his  table  may  be  spread 
with  a  luxurious  variety.  Every  demand  of  necessity  would 
have  been  heeded  if  but  one  kind  of  grain,  and  but  one  vegeta- 
ble had  been  provided  for  him.  But,  instead  of  this,  his 
Heavenly  Parent  has  been  at  the  utmost  pains  to  provide  for 
him  every  variety  which  even  taste  can  crave,  and  pleasantly 
to  season  the  whole  with  spices  and  salt — and  withal  to  perfume 
the  air  about  him  that  he  may  be  happy  and  gratified  in  all  his 
lawful  desires. 

And  not  only  has  the  Great  Benefactor  provided  man  food 
in  such  varied  abundance,  and  provided  for  his  luxuries — 
"  wine  that  maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man,  and  oil  to  make  his 
face  to  shine  " — but  he  has  been  in  like  manner  bountiful,  in 
the  provision  made  in  vegetable  organizations,  for  his  clothing, 
for  his  dwelling,  and  for  the  various  purposes  of  every  day  life. 
The  fibre  of  one  plant  supplies  his  linen,  that  of  another,  his 


NEW   SUBSTANCES.  85 

cordage.*  One  tree  produces  a  beautiful  fibrous  substance, 
which,  when  spun  and  woven  into  a  great  variety  of  fabrics, 
serves  a  thousand  purposes  in  the  domestic  economy ;  while 
from  another  exudes  a  gum,  which,  when  melted  and  prepared, 
furnishes  us  shoes  to  protect  our  feet  from  the  wet  and  cold ;  and 
serves  many  very  important  purposes  in  the  arts  of  life.  Other 
trees  yield  pitch,  resin,  gums ;  some  for  medicines,  some  for 
luxury,  or  suited  to  be  used  in  the  arts.  From  one  tree  exudes 
a  healing  balsam ;  from  another  a  saccharine  juice  called  sap, 
which  is  boiled  down  to  a  palatable  sugar.  The  cow- tree  of 
South  America  yields  a  substance,  when  the  tree  is  gashed, 
which  resembles  and  which  is  used  for  milk.  The  juice  of  one 
plant  produces  indigo,  that  of  another,  sugar ;  and  others  yield 
all  the  varieties  of  essences.  And  what  a  variety  of  oils  have 
we  from  the  olive,  the  palm,  the  castor  bean,  and  the  peanut. 
Nor  are  vegetable  lard  and  butter  unknown. 

Whether  for  food   or  clothing,   for  medicine  or  luxury; 

*  It  is  a  matter  of  no  ordinary  interest  to  watch  the  appearance  of 
the  new  substances  which,  from  time  to  time,  are  added  to  the  number  of 
articles  already  in  use,  as  new  substances  for  fuel,  light,  food  and  cloth- 
ing. As  an  instance  of  the  latter,  I  may  refer  to  a  report  which  recently 
appeared  of  a  very  "  timely  discovery  "  of  Mr.  John  Blanc,  of  New  Orleans. 
He  has  "discovered  a  process  of  converting  thirty  different  varieties 
of  plants,  which  grow  wild  in  enormous  quantities  in  different  sections 
of  the  Union,  into  flax  of  great  strength  and  beautiful  texture."  He 
makes  "  flax  "  from  the  stalks  of  the  cotton  plant — from  the  century  tree 
or  wild  Manilla  of  Florida — from  the  wild  holly-hock,  which  supplies  a 
fibre  of  ten  or  fifteen  feet  long — from  the  golden  nankeen,  which  is  a 
natural  nankeen  color,  and  from  more  than  a  score  of  others.  The  pro- 
cess of  preparation  is  represented  as  "  simple  and  effectual,  preserving 
all  the  strength  of  the  staple." 


86  THE  PALACE  OP  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

whether  to  be  used  in  the  arts  or  in  the  prosecution  of  science, 
or  merely  to  gratify  the  taste  or  please  the  eye,  the  Great  Archi- 
tect has  so  strangely  compounded  the  few  simple  materials  of 
which  all  vegetable  organizations  are  formed,  and  given  them 
so  many  different  forms  and  natures,  as  scarcely  to  leave  a 
want  of  man  unheeded.  We  betake  ourselves  to  the  forest, 
and  here  we  meet  the  same  wisdom  and  benevolence  in 
Nature's  adaptation  to  meet  the  varied  wants  of  man.  If  one 
forest  were  but  a  vast  collection  of  stately  pines ;  another,  of 
oaks  or  maples,  or  sycamores  or  cedars ;  however  useful  each 
might  be  in  its  place,  yet  how  completely  would  such  an  ar- 
rangement fail  to  meet  man's  necessities  and  convenience — 
and  how  much  would  it  detract  from  the  present  beauty  of  our 
forests. 

But  how  variegated  and  beautiful  our  woodlands,  as  Nature 
has  formed  them.  One  tree  is  clothed  in  a  robe  of  blossoms 
more  gorgeously  arrayed  than  Solomon  in  all  his  glory ;  an- 
other yields  you  a  pleasant  gum,  or  a  healing  balsam,  or  a  re- 
freshing beverage,  or  a  delicious  fruit ;  another,  sturdy  and 
gnarled,  shall  form  the  rib  of  some  noble  ship ;  or  tall  and 
straight  and  branchless,  shall  proudly  carry  the  top-mast-sail. 
Another  is  fitted  to  cheer  the  winter's  evening  as  it  blazes  on 
the  domestic  hearth.  Here  are  met  trees  and  shrubs  of  every 
degree  of  hardness,  and  softness,  and  elasticity,  suited  to  be 
wrought  into  all  sorts  of  utensils,  vessels  and  furniture,  as 
needed  in  every  imaginable  department  of  common  life.  What 
an  endless  variety  of  woods ! — what  diversities  of  forms,  of  fo- 
liage and  colors ! 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  scenes  in  nature,  and  one  which 
as  beautifully  illustrates  my  idea,  is  the  variegated  foliage  of 


SEEDS   HOW   PEESEEVED   AND   DISPEESED.  87 

an  American  forest  after  the  first  frosts  of  autumn.  The  name- 
less varieties  of  colors,  and  the  inimitable  blending  together 
of  every  imaginable  tint,  extending  over  a  vast  forest,  presents 
to  the  vision  a  view  which  is  indescribably  beautiful. 

Or  I  might  refer,  as  another  matter  of  pleasing  interest,  to 
the  great  variety  of  ways  in  which  the  seeds  of  plants  are  ma- 
tured and  preserved,  and  then  dispersed  so  as  to  reproduce  all 
the  present  varieties  of  plants.  What  we  term  fruits,  are  but 
the  different  contrivances  of  Nature  to  protect,  or  aid  in  the 
dispersion  and  the  future  germination  of  the  seed.  Seeds  are 
produced  in  every  variety  of  form,  size,  color,  taste  and  con- 
sistence. But  what  is  a  mafter  of  yet  greater  interest,  is  the 
great  variety  of  ways  in  which  they  are  protected  and  scat- 
tered. Some  are  singly  ensconced  in  a  hard,  ligneous  shell, 
secure  from  all  but  a  few  species  of  depredators.  Others,  includ- 
ing nearly  the  whole  variety  of  our  fruits,  are  incased  in  a  pulpy 
substance  of  greater  or  less  bulk  and  consistence,  which,  when 
matured,  falls  to  the  ground  and  forms  of  itself  a  sort  of  mould 
in  which,  without  the  aid  of  man,  it  takes  root  and  reproduces 
its  kind.  The  seeds  of  others  are  inclosed  in  a  very  light  ball 
which  is  tossed  about  by  the  wind ;  and  others  are  furnished 
with  winged  appendages,  or  attached  to  a  downy  substance,  or 
strung  on  fine  hairs,  by  which  they  are  wafted  abroad ;  and 
others  still  are  found  in  seed  vessels,  or  pods,  or  a  bristly  burr, 
which,  on  becoming  dry,  burst  open  with  a  force  that  scatters 
them  around. 

Both  for  the  purpose  of  appropriating  an  additional  authori- 
ty to  confirm  what  has  been  said  in  the  present  chapter,  and 
to  add  further  illustrations,  I  shall  transcribe  a  paragraph  01 
two  from  Dr.  Dick's  excellent  book,  entitled  the  "  Christian 


88  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

Philosopher."  Of  the  great  number  of 'species  of  plants  which 
are  known,  and,  as  he  suggests,  of  the  perhaps  greater  number 
in  regions  unexplored,  yet  to  be  classified,  he  says : 

"  Every  one  of  these  species  of  plants  differs  from  another,  in  its 
size,  structure,  form,  flowers,  leaves,  fruits,  mode  of  propagation, 
color,  medical  virtues,  nutritious  qualities,  internal  vessels,  and  the 
odors  it  exhales.  They  are  of  all  sizes,  from  the  microscopic  mush- 
room, invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  to  the  sturdy  oak,  and  the  cedar 
of  Lebanon,  and  from  the  slender  willow  to  the  banyan  tree,  under 
whose  shade  7,000  persons  may  find  ample  room  to  repose.  A 
thousand  different  shades  of  color  distinguish  the  different  species. 
Every  one  wears  its  peculiar  livery  and  is  distinguished  by  its.  own 
native  hues  ;  and  many  of  their  inherent  beauties  can  be  distin- 
guished only  by  the  help  of  the  microscope.  Some  grow  upright, 
others  creep  along  in  a  serpentine  form.  Some  flourish  for  ages, 
others  wither  and  decay  in  a  few  montfis ;  some  spring  up  in  moist, 
others  in  dry  soils ;  some  turn  towards  the  sun,  others  shrink  and 
contract  when  we  approach  to  touch  them.  Not  only  are  the  dif- 
ferent species  of  plants  and  flowers  distinguished  from  each  other, 
by  their  different  forms,  but  even  the  different  individuals  of  the 
same  species.  No  two  flowers  can  be  found  in  which  the  shape  and 
shades  are  exactly  similar.  Of  all  the  hundred  thousand  millions 
of  plants,  trees,  herbs,  and  flowers,  with  which  our  globe  is  varie- 
gated, there  are  not,  perhaps,  two  individuals  precisely  alike,  in 
every  point  of  view  in  which  they  may  be  contemplated ;  yea,  there 
is  not,  perhaps,  a  single  leaf  in  the  forest,  when  minutely  examined, 
that  will  not  be  found  to  differ,  in  certain  aspects,  from  its  fellows. 
Such  is  the  wonderful  and  infinite  diversity  with  which  the  Creator 
has  adorned  the  vegetable  kingdom. 

"  His  wisdom  is  also  evidently  displayed  in  the  vast  profusion 
of  vegetable  nature — in  adapting  each  plant  to  the  soil  and  situation 
in  which  it  is  destined  to  flourish — in  furnishing  it  with  those  ves- 
sels by  which  it  absorbs  the  air  and  moisture  on  which  it  feeds  ; 
and  in  adapting  it  to  the  nature  and  necessities  of  animated  beings. 
As  the  earth  teems  with  animated  existence,  and  as  the  different 
tribes  of  animals  depend  chiefly  on  the  productions  of  the  vegeta- 
ble kingdom  for  their  subsistence,  so  there  is  an  abundance  and 
variety  of  plants  adapted  to  the  peculiar  constitutions  of  every  in- 


DOMAINS   OF   VEGETATION  ENLARGING.  89 

dividual  species.  This  circumstance  demonstrates,  that  there  is  a 
precontrived  relation  and  fitness  between  the  internal  constitution 
of  the  animal  and  the  nature  of  the  plants  which  afford  it  nourish- 
ment ;  and  shows  us,  that  the  animal  and  the  vegetable  kingdoms 
are  the  workmanship  of  one  and  the  same  Almighty  Being,  and 
that,  in  his  arrangements  with  regard  to  the  one,  he  had  in  view  the 
necessities  of  the  other." 

Every  year  is  enlarging  the  domains  of  the  great  vegetable 
world — not  only  in  bringing  new  species  and  new  varieties  to 
our  acquaintance,  but  teaching  us  new  uses  of  those  already 
known.  Substances  once  considered  useless,  if  not  poisonous, 
are  now  numbered  among  the  useful  articles  ;  and  some  of  them 
have  been  installed  among  the  essential  articles  of  every  day 
life,  either  for  food,  clothing,  or  in  the  useful  arts. 

We  may  close  this  chapter  with  a  reference  to  a  very  singu- 
lar species  of  tree  found  on  the  island  of  Goa  near  Bombay. 
It  is,  in  some  of  its  characteristics,  quite  unique.  It  is  called 
the  "  sorrowful  tree,"  because  it  only  flourishes  in  the  night. 
At  sunset  no  flowers  are  to  be  seen ;  and  yet,  half  an  hour 
after,  it  is  quite  full  of  them.  They  yield  a  sweet  smell ;  but 
the  sun  no  sooner  begins  to  shine  upon  them  than  some  of 
them  fall  off",  and  others  close  up ;  and  thus  it  continues  flow- 
ering in  the  night  the  whole  year.  "  Grace  in  the  soul  of  the 
believer,"  says  one,  "  is  just  such  a  flower.  In  the  dark  night 
of  affliction  it  is  fresh  and  fragrant,  puts  out  its  bloom  and 
seems  full  of  immortality;  but  when  the  sun  of  prosperity 
arises  and  shines  upon  it,  and  it  is  surrounded  by  earthly  com- 
forts, then  for  the  first  time  its  divine  life  withers ;  it  collapses 
and  shuts  up  its  leaves." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM— The  Scale  of  Life— The  " Vast  Chain  of  Being"— The 
Animal  World  a  Counterpart  of  the  Vegetable. 

IN  the  brief  survey  taken  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  we  have 
seen  how,  by  the  most  singular  variety  and  profusion,  the 
great  Parent  has  provided  for  all  the  varied  wants  and  happi- 
ness of  his  creatures.  And  not  only  is  vegetable  life  met  in 
every  region  of  the  earth,  and  in  every  nook  and  corner  where 
animal  want,  or  appetite,  or  pleasure  can  require  it ;  but  such 
is  the  exuberance  of  vegetable  nature  that  "  heaths,  deserts, 
uninhabitable  islands,  and  mountains,"  have  been  made  to  pro- 
duce their  peculiar  vegetation — though  such  vegetation  may 
contribute,  at  present,  little  or  nothing  to  either  the  wants  or 
pleasures  of  man  or  beast. 

But  as  we  turn  to  the  vast  arena  of  living  things  we  shall 
discover  reasons,  not  only  for  the  exhaustless  profusion  and  the 
endlessly  varied  character  of  vegetable  life,  but  for  a  no  less 
intense  admiration  of  the  correspondingly  profuse  and  varied 
productions  of  animal  life.  Every  department  of  vegetation 
is  to  be  regarded  as  the  very  counterpart  of,  and  as  suited 
to  its  respective  tenants.  The  verdant  field  is  the  pasture- 
ground  of  flocks  and  herds,  and  of  all  the  teeming  armies  of 
insect-life  that  feed  on  its  surface.  Every  forest  is  the  roam- 
ing ground  of  its  own  wild  tenants.  "  The  trees  of  the  Lord 


UNIFORMITY    OF   NATURE'S   LAWS.  91 

are  full  of  sap" — full  of  foliage  and  flowers  and  nutritious 
fruits  for  the  use  of  man  and  beast,  bird  and  insect — "  the 
cedars  of  Lebanon  which  he  has  planted,  where  the  birds  make 
their  nests."  Every  leaf  is  a  play  ground  and  a  pasture  ground 
for  the  numerous  tribes  that  roam  and  feed  and  sport  on  its 
surface.  Every  flower,  vocal  with  the  songs  of  its  merry  ten- 
ants, is  the  resort  or  the  residence  of  numerous  families  of  liv- 
ing creatures  that  seek  pleasure  or  perfume  or  nectarine  sweets, 
or  a  floral  shade  or  shelter,  in  its  soft  and  quiet  bosom.  Every 
variety  of  flower  has  its  own  peculiar  inhabitants  that  seek  in 
it  protection,  food  or  pleasure.  Indeed,  we  shall  everywhere 
discover  a  beautiful  correspondence  between  the  animal  and  the 
vegetable  worlds.  The  one  is  made  for  the  other. 

We  may  here  remark,  once  for  all,  that  while  the  laws  of 
Nature  have  been  so  framed  by  the  Great  Architect  as  to 
secure  a  specific  variety  throughout  the  wide  domains  of  all 
organized  beings,  it  is  a  fact,  not  the  less  interesting,  that  the 
same  laws  as  certainly  secure  a  general  uniformity  throughout 
the  entire  range  of  animal  and  vegetable  life.  There  every- 
where appears  a  unity  of  design  and  composition.  Every 
species  of  animals  or  of  vegetables  is  made  after  the  same 
model,  yet  how  unlike!  Every  tree  or  plant  has  the  same 
general  form,  structure  and  functions  of  life  and  growth.  Every 
member  of  the  great  family  of  man,  every  individual  horse, 
sheep,  or  dog,  conforms  to  one  original  pattern.  A  deviation 
from  this  makes  a  monster.  And  not  only  does  every  indi- 
vidual of  every  species  bear  the  unmistakable  mark  of  a  general 
uniformity,  but  every  member  and  function  presents  the  same 
marks.  Though  the  ears,  nose,  eyes  or  hands  of  no  two  indi- 
viduals are  alike,  yet  no  two  vary  so  much  that  you  are  in  the 


92  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

least  danger  of  mistaking  them  as  the  corresponding  members 
of  any  other  animals,  or  to  lead  to  doubt  whether  they  are 
shaped  after  the  same  model.  We  are  in  no  danger  of  mistak- 
ing the  nose  of  a  dog  or  a  pig  for  that  of  a  man.  Nature's 
laws  of  uniformity  are  as  rigidly  adhered  to  as  those  of  variety. 
In  the  contemplation  of  animal  life,  the  first  thing  that 
arrests  the  attention  is  the  gradation  of  being  which  we  at 
once  discover.  This  in  itself  presents  another  very  interesting 
and  extensive  series  of  varieties,  and  may  claim  some  special 
consideration. 

"  Vast  chain  of  being !  which  from  God  began, 
Nature's  ethereal,  human,  angel,  man, 
Beast,  bird,  fish,  insect !   what  no  eye  can  see, 
No  glass  can  reach ;  from  infinite  to  thee ; 
From  thee  to  nothing." 

Our  capacities  are  at  present  too  limited,  and  our  field  of 
observation  too  narrow,  to  attempt  to  comprehend  such  a  chain 
or  scale  of  being  as  is  here  suggested.  Should  we  take  our 
position  at  the  point  or  link  marked  "man,"  and  attempt  to 
look  downwards  through  every  descending  grade  of  being  to 
the  most  imperfect  specimen  of  life — to  the  scarcely  organized 
and  the  scarcely  vital  monad,  which  forms  the  last  link  of 
animate  existence;  and  from  the  same  point  were  we  to 
attempt  to  reach  upwards,  through  all  the  principalities  and 
powers,  and  thrones  and  dominions,  and  whatever  grades  and 
orders  of  intelligences  there  may  be  between  man,  the  first  in 
order  among  intelligent  creatures,  to  the  last  and  highest  of 
finite  beings — to  the  great  chasm  which  separates  the  finite 
from  the  Infinite,  we  should  seem  to  stand  between  two  in- 


GRADATION   OF   ANIMAL   LIFE. 

finities :  the  infinitely  high  and  the  infinitely  low.  Yet  neither 
is  infinite,  except  to  our  lack  of  comprehension.  Either  end 
of  the  "  vast  chain  "  lies  within  the  boundaries  of  the  finite  ; 
though  probably  no  human  conception,  in  its  present  range  at 
least,  is  able  to  reach  to  either  end.  The  researches  of  natural- 
ists assure  us  of  the  existence  of  such  a  continuous  chain  of  being, 
though  it  is  interrupted  by  chasms,  produced  perhaps  by  the 
extinction  of  certain  species,  or  quite  as  often  by  our  ignorance 
of  the  existence  of  the  apparently  missing  links.  Certain  it  is 
that  the  number  and  the  length  of  these  chasms  are  diminish- 
ing with  every  new  discovery  into  the  great  universe  of  life. 

But  we  will  take  our  position  at  the  foot  of  the  scale,  or  as 
near  the  foot  as  the  present  state  of  microscopic  research  will 
allow,  and  try  to  get  at  least  some  imperfect  idea  of  the  grada- 
tion up  as  far  as  Man.  And  what  an  illimitable  field  of  varied 
life  here  stretches  out  before  us.  He  that  sung  so  well  of  man 
has  expressed  it  thus  : 

"  Far  as  creation's  ample  range  extends, 
The  scale  of  sensual,  mental  powers  ascend  ; 
Mark  how  it  mounts  to  man's  imperial  race, 
From  the  green  myriads  in  the  peopled  grass." 

But  we  must  not  forget  that  the  great  chain  of  being  does 
not  end  when  we  arrive  at  the  lowest  link  of  animal  existence. 
Animal  and  vegetable  life  singularly  interlace.  There  are 
connecting  links  which  join  the  two.  And  then  when  we 
have  traced  down  every  grade  of  vegetable  life  from  the  most 
perfect  to  the  least  perfect,  we  shall,  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
chain,  again  find  our  connecting  links  uniting  the  vegetable 
and  mineral  kingdoms. 


94  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

"  The  smallest  microscopical  objects  which  can  be  supposed 
to  be  organic  are  points,  or  gelatinous  globules,  or  threads  in 
which  no  distinct  organs,  interior  or  exterior,  can  be  dis- 
covered." We  thence  ascend  to  a  class  of  zoophytes*  which 
bear  distinct  marks  of  organization,  called  porifera  or  the 
sponge-makers,  or  a  slightly  higher  order  still,  called  polype, 
which  construct  the  coral.  Both  of  these  bear  strong  resem- 
blance to  vegetable  growths.  From  this  point  of  half  animal 
half  vegetable  organization  we  may  ascend  the  scale  through 
every  conceivable  grade,  from  the  senseless  polype  that  vege- 
tates rather  than  lives,  to  the  most  perfect  human  organization 
and  intelligence.  We  shall  see  how,  in  form,  size,  organiza- 
tion, activity,  instinct  and  intelligence,  these  rise  in  beautiful 
order,  one  above  the  other. 

Passing  by  the  teeming  worlds  of  microscopic  life,  in  which, 
did  the  present  state  of  science  admit  of  the  requisite  investiga- 
tion, we  should  doubtless  meet  the  same  gradation  of  being, 
from  the  little  invisible  speck  which  is  half  monad  half  mole- 
cule, to  the  equally  invisible  mite  of  exquisite  form,  organiza- 
tion and  color,  and  full  of  activity  and  pleasure,  we  need  only 
trace  up  the  gradation  from  the  lowest  form  of  visible  life — 
from  the  torpid,  senseless,  shapeless  muscle  to  the  perfectly 
organized,  the  active,  intelligent  being  called  man.  As  we 
ascend  through  all  the  numberless  grades  of  creeping  things ; 
through  all  the  aquatic  and  insect  tribes,  and  through  all  the 
varieties  of  birds  and  beasts  of  every  wing  and  hoof  till  we 
arrive  at  the  eagle,  the  dog,  the  monkey,  the  beaver,  and  the 

*  "A  term  expressing  animal  plants  or  vegetating  animals,  and 
defined  to  mean  composite  animals  efflorescing  like  vegetables,"  as  the 
sponge,  coral,  and  polypus. 


MAN   AND   HIS    GEADE.  95 

elephant,  we  shall  find  we  have  passed  every  imaginable  grade 
of  animal  life  in  reference  to  form,  size,  physical  organization, 
locomotive  capabilities,  sagacity,  instinct  and  intelligence,  find 
we  pass  on  to  man,  who  stands  at  the  head  of  all  mundane 
beings,  the  most  perfect  in  all  physical  and  mental  endow- 
ments, and  yet  doubtless  constituting  the  lowest  link  in  the 
chain  of  intellectual  and  immortal  beings. 

The  gradation  in  question  admits  of  a  wide  range  of  illus- 
tration. Take  hearing,  seeing,  instinct,  strength  of  muscle, 
activity — whatever  attribute  of  life  or  endowment  you  will,  and 
the  gradation  appears  in  all  these  respective  lines  : 

"  What  modes  of  sight  betwixt  each  wide  extreme, 
The  mole's  dim  curtain  and  the  lynx's  beam : 
Of  smell,  the  headlong  lioness  between 
And  hound  sagacious  on  the  tainted  green : 
Of  hearing,  from  the  life  that  fills  the  flood 
To  that  which  warbles  in  the  vernal  wood." 

And  what  different  degrees  of  instinct  guide  the  brute 
creation  until,  in  some  animals,  it  seems  scarcely  inferior  to 
human  reason.  Or  take  hearing,  seeing,  power  of  muscle,  or 
what  attribute  of  life  or  animal  endowment  you  will,  and  you 
may  trace  a  gradation  in  each  respective  line.  It  is  instinct 
that  guides  the  half-vegetable  polyp  to  deposit  his  secretion  so 
as  to  form  the  coral  or  the  sponge.  It  is  instinct,  in  its  higher 
office,  that  teaches  the  bird  to  construct  her  nest.  More  skil- 
ful yet,  the  bee,  moved  by  the  same  singular  impulse,  builds 
her  cells  and  deposits  her  honey.  And,  in  a  yet  higher  func- 
tion, instinct  impels  the  beaver,  with  a  sagacity  and  calculation 
almost  human,  to  construct  his  dam  and  to  erect  his  house. 

We  have  alluded  to  connecting  links — how  the  mineral  and 


96  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GKEAT   KING. 

the  vegetable  kingdoms  so  interlace :  one  species  of  the  one  so 
running  into  a  species  of  the  other,  that  you  can  scarcely  deter- 
mine where  the  one  ends  and  the  other  begins.  Some  vege- 
tables contain  mineral  substances ;  others  appear  like  mineral 
bodies.  Some  minerals  possess  certain  forms  and  properties 
of  vegetable  productions :  coral  is  an  instance  of  the  former. 
Though  while  in  the  art  of  forming  it  presents  a  rare  connection 
of  the  animal  and  mineral  kingdoms,  yet  when  constructed 
and  examined  as  a  mineral  substance,  it  presents  some  striking 
points  of  resemblance  to  the  vegetable  organizations.  The 
coral  often  takes  the  form  of  trees,  groves,  gardens,  flower-beds, 
and  almost  every  sort  of  vegetable  organization.  There  is  a 
liberal  interchange  of  properties  between  vegetables  and 
minerals.  The  former  become  petrified,  and  the  latter  are 
converted  into  soils,  and  become  incorporated  with  animal 
life. 

But  if  we  look  at  the  other  end  of  the  chain  of  vegetable 
productions,  we  shall  be  still  more  impressed,  as  we  approach 
the  uncertain  line  of  demarcation  between  the  vegetable  and 
the  animal  kingdoms,  with  the  very  accommodating  disposi- 
tions of  the  two.  We  speak  not  now  of  the  well-known  near 
approach  of  certain  species  of  vegetables  to  certain  species  of 
animals  in  point  of  form  and  .organization,  but  father  of  a 
singular  sort  of  interchange  of  productions  between  the  two 
kingdoms ;  or,  at  least,  of  attempts  on  the  part  of  the  lower 
kingdom  to  overstep  its  bounds,  and  to  usurp  the  province  of 
its  superior ;  an  aspiration  not  unnatural,  of  the  lower  order  to 
occupy  a  higher  position  in  the  scale  of  being.  Hence  certain 
vegetables  are  found  to  yield  animal  products,  and  thus  to 
take  the  place  of  the  animals  whose  peculiar  properties  they 


INTERLACINGS    OF   DIFFERENT   NATURES.  97 

assume.  We  have  vegetable  milk,  butter,  lard,  oil,  wax,  wool, 
leather.  The  palo  de  vaco  has  undertaken  to  play  the  cow ; 
the  myrica  to  imitate  the  bee ;  a  tree  in  Guayaquil  to  produce 
wool ;  other  trees  yield  oil,  lard,  and  other  animal  substances. 

Nor  do  we  meet  these  singular  interlacings  of  different  na- 
tures only  on  the  confines  of  the  two  kingdoms,  but  between 
different  species  of  the  same  kingdom.  They  are  discovered 
to  exist  between  fishes  and  quadrupeds ;  between  fishes  and 
birds ;  between  quadrupeds  and  birds ;  and  between  the  brute 
species  and  man.  The  frog,  the  turtle,  the  alligator,  may  be 
cited  as  instances  of  nature's  attempts  to  make  the  fish  per- 
sonate the  quadruped;  the  flying  squirrel,  the  bat,  and  the 
flying  opossum  indicate  the  aspirations  of  legs  to  become  wings. 
And  the  same  lofty  aspirations  have  possessed  certain  of  the 
finny  tribes,  as  is  seen  in  the  case  of  the  flying-fish.  Dragons 
occupy  the  transition  ground  between  birds  and  reptiles.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  meet  with  birds,  as  the  ostrich,  the  casso- 
wary and  the  dodo,  which,  in  their  nature  and  habits,  approxi- 
mate to  quadrupeds.  Though  furnished  with  wings  they  can 
scarcely  fly  at  all,  but  walk  or  run  like  the  horse  or  dog.  Other 
animals,  some  in  one  respect,  and  some  in  another,  essay  to 
overstep  the  boundaries  which  separate  rational  and  brute  na- 
tures. The  elephant  invades  the  territories  of  man  in  his  "  half 
reasoning "  capabilities ;  the  monkey  in  his  organization  and 
some  of  his  habits  and  instincts ;  the  beaver  and  the  dog,  in 
respect  to  sagacity  and  social  proclivities. 

Or  we  might  select  a  single  species  and  we  should  not 
lack  examples  by  which  to  illustrate  our  idea  of  a  continuous 
scale  of  being.  Take  the  horse,  the  dog,  the  cat,  or  any 
species  of  our  domestic  animals,  and  what  different  degrees  of 


98  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

sagacity,  instinct  and  activity !  One  is  stupid  and  comparative- 
ly senseless  ;  another  shows  a  degree  of  intelligence  that  is 
scarcely  less  than  human.  But  the  scale  is  more  distinctly 
marked,  and  vastly  more  extensive,  in  the  animal  man.  He 
being  an  animal  capable  of  indefinite  improvement,  and  en- 
dowed with  reason,  and  possessed  of  an  indefinite  number  of 
wants  which  science  and  civilization  and  his  social  habits  in- 
duce, and  having  a  vastly  wider  scope  for  the  exercise  of  his 
powers,  physical  and  intellectual,  presents  a  correspondingly 
wide  diversity  in  all  the  developments  of  his  mind  and  in  his 
physical  condition.  There  are,  consequently,  almost  as  many 
grades  of  men  as  there  are  individuals  of  the  race. 

We  begin  at  the  foot  of  the  scale ;  where  we  meet  the  Es- 
quimaux or  the  Hottentot,  the  most  besotted  savage,  and  from 
this  point  we  ascend,  through  every  degree  of  advancement,  to 
the  climax  of  human  culture  and  elevation.  Wealth,  position, 
mental  culture,  society  and  civilization,  fortune  or  personal 
enterprise  and  industry,  or  the  cultivation  of  the  moral  affec- 
tions, or  all  these  combined,  have  ranged  men  in  every  imagi- 
nable grade  in  the  scale,  from  the  most  beggarly  elements,  of 
humanity  which  form  the  lowest  state  of  the  race,  to  man  in 
the  highest  type  of  his  earthly  development.  The  eminent 
Christian  philosopher  occupies  such  a  position ;  whose  mind 
and  heart  are  together  cultivated  in  the  highest  degree,  and 
whose  well-sustained  position  gives  him  power  among  men. 
What  a  vast  chasm  between  our  savage  and  such  a  man  as 
Moses,  Luther,  Newton,  Wilberforce,  Washington ;  or  rather 
the  man  who  should  combine  in  one  (as  is  possible)  the  peculiar 
excellences  of  all  these  men.  Not  till  we  shall  be  able  to 
count  up  every  intermediate  link — trace  out  and  define,  and 


WHEEE   DOES   THE   GRADATION   CEASE?  99 


assign  a  place  in  the  scale  to  every  individual  man,  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest,  may  we  know  the  number  of  the  links  or 
the  length  of  the  chain  when  contemplated  only  within  the 
sphere  of  human  life. 

Regarded  as  a  Divine  arrangement  designed  to  produce  re- 
sults of  the  most  useful  and  benevolent  character,  we  cannot 
too  profoundly  admire  this  gradation  of  being.  We  see  all 
things  and  beings  most  beautifully  fitted,  each  to  its  place  and 
work  ;  all  alike  necessary  to  make  up  the  great  whole,  and  to 
accomplish  the  great  ends  of  their  Divine  Author.  The  end- 
less diversities  of  gifts,  graces,  endowments  ;  capabilities,  pow- 
ers, susceptibilities,  as  secured  by  the  singularly  diversified 
character  and  condition  of  man,  are  but  so  many  different 
adaptations  to  fulfil  the  equally  varied  duties  of  life:  each 
infinitely  varied,  yet  all  beautifully  harmonious  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  same  wise  purposes. 

But  does  the  gradation  cease  when  it  has  passed  from  man 
into  the  regions  of  celestial  life  1  Shall  we  not  find  those  be- 
ings of  a  higher  intellectual  grade,  rising,  in  ascending  scale, 
one  class  above  another  *?  And  where  is  the  upper  end  of  this 
chain  ?  To  believe  that  all  those  higher  Intelligences,  which 
we  are  wont  to  call  by  the  general  term  of  angels,  are  all  of  the 
same  order  and  station,  and  that  glorified  men  differ  not  in 
this  respect,  would  be  to  contradict  the  whole  analogy  of  things 
known.  And  more  than  this,  we  have  intimations  in  the 
sacred  Word,  that  the  same  analogy  does  run  through  all  the 
heavenly  hosts.  We  read  of  angels,  archangels,  principat- 
ties,  powers,  thrones,  dominions,  seraphim,  cherubim,  and  the 
"  mighty  angels  " — all  which  seem  to  be  distinctions  of  grade. 
The  names  of  a  few  angels  are  given  from  which  we  seem  to 


100  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

get  a  clue  also  to  tlie  orders  that  exist  among  them.  Gabriel 
means  the  power  of  God ;  which  seems  to  designate  him  as  the 
one  approaching  nearest  to  God  in  respect  to  power.  Michael, 
means  Who  is  like  God  ;  pointing  out  perhaps  some  more  gen- 
eral resemblances  in  his  character  to  the  high  and  holy  One. 
Speaking  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  blessed  world,  the  Apostle 
says  there  is  one  glory  of  the  sun,  another  glory  of  the  moon, 
another  of  the  stars,  and  that  one  star  differeth  from  another 
in  glory. 

Here  are  distinctions  obviously  recognized,  different  degrees 
of  excellence — which  would  seem  to  imply  distinctions  of  office 
and  rank. 

Yet  we  have  a  still  stronger  probability,  in  the  nature  of 
the  case.  All  these  higher  and  holier  beings  are  intelligent 
creatures.  They  have  minds  that  are  doubtless  subject  to  the 
general  laws  of  mind.  They  have  duties  and  employments — 
are  continually  putting  forth  activities  and  employing  their  vast 
energies  of  mind ;  and,  like  all  intelligent  beings,  derive  their 
happiness  very  much  from  the  exercise  of  their  mental  powers. 
Without  a  succession  of  new  objects,  new  scenes,  new  trains  of 
thought,  the  mind  would  sicken  with  satiety  and  disgust.  But 
the  different  degrees  of  mental  power  and  capability  is  but  a 
different  degree  of  capacity  for  action ;  and  this  the  only 
true  foundation  of  a  difference  of  rank.  Once  put  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  celestial  world  on  a  level  as  to  powers  of  mind  and 
capabilities  of  action,  and  you  would  probably  hush,  into  one 
dead  monotony,  the  infinitely  varied  praises  of  heaven  and  ar- 
rest the  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  holy  activities  in 
which  the  inhabitants  of  that  blissful  world  are  engaged.  One 
class  of  those  wonderful  beings  are,  perhaps,  distinguished  by 


HEAVENLY   GRADATIONS.  101 

their  extraordinary  locomotive  powers,  by  which  they  may  be 
able  to  visit  with  the  celerity  of  light  the  remotest  star  that 
sparkles  in  the  universe.  Another  class  may  as  far  excel  in 
astronomical  investigations,  or  the  knowledge  of  other  worlds,  so 
that  they  may  guide  the  researches  of  others  as  they  essay  to 
search  out  the  "  marvellous  works"  of  God,  and  make  these  the 
theme  of  eternal  praise.  Others,  possessed  of  a  taste  and  ca- 
pability, not  so  much  to  gauge  the  dimensions  of  other  worlds, 
and  to  grasp  the  magnitude  of  the  material  universe,  as  to 
search  into  the  nature,  and  to  study  the  design,  the  uses  and 
adaptations  of  things,  unfold,  in  other  interesting  aspects,  the 
wonders  of  creative  skill  and  power.  While  another  class  are 
employing  the  vast  powers  of  their  minds  in  studying  the  won- 
ders of  Providence :  or,  with  some  peculiar  qualifications  for 
the  delightful  task,  the  endless,  exhaustless  theme,  they  launch 
forth  on  the  boundless  field  of  the  "  manifold  grace  "  of  God, 
and  from  age  to  age  of  duration  eternal,  penetrate  into  the 
mysteries  of  redemption. 

What  various  labors  of  love  are  to  be  performed ;  what  er- 
rands of  mercy  to  be  executed ;  what  various  works  of  praise 
to  be  performed ;  what  Divine  truths  and  heavenly  sciences  to 
be  studied;  and  how  are  all  the  "ways"  and  the  "  works"  of 
God  to  be  searched  out,  and  lessons  of  heavenly  wisdom,  and 
motives  for  praise  and  adoration,  to  be  jdeduced  from  them ! 

These  are  some  of  the  surmises,  founded  however  on  the 
analogy  and  the  nature  of  things,  which  induce  the  belief  that 
the  same  scale  of  being  which  we  discover  to  extend  up  from  the 
most  imperfectly  formed  mineral  substance  to  the  connecting 
links  which  unite  the  mineral  and  vegetable  kingdoms,  and 
thence  through  all  the  whole  range  of  vegetable  life ;  and  by 


102  THE   PAX  ACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

an  easy  transition  into  the  great  world  of  animal  existence, 
and  thence  onward  through  a  regular  ascending  gradation  to 
man,  is  continued  from  the  lowest  in  the  scale  of  superhuman 
intelligences  to  the  most  highly  endowed  Being  that  surrounds 
the  throne  or  falls  at  the  feet  of  the  Great  I  AM. 

But  beyond  this  our  surmises  may  not  attempt  to  reach. 
Here  we  suppose  this  wonderful  chain  of  being  ends.  Yet 
here  we  find  ourselves  involved  in  a  singular  kind  of  mystery. 
We  may  not  for  a  moment  compare  finite  with  Infinite.  Here 
is  a  chasm,  an  impassable  gulf — that  they  that  would  pass  may 
not.  Yet  there  has  been  a  singular  interchange  of  the  Divine 
and  human  natures.  The  Man  of  Nazareth  was  God.  The 
Man  at  God's  right  hand  sits  as  God's  coequal,  to  receive  and 
to  take  to  the  throne  with  himself  men  of  an  earth-born  race. 
They  are,  in  a  sense,  while  yet  in  the  flesh,  "  partakers  of  the 
Divine  nature,"  and  are  destined  to  become  such  in  a  much 
higher  sense.  We  are  left  here  to  an  interesting  conjecture  as 
to  how  much  is  implied  in  the  promise  of  heirship  with  God, 
and  joint  heirship  with  Christ — how  much  is  implied  in  the 
idea  of  being  like  Christ,  and  of  being  perfect  as  God  is  perfect. 
We  do  not  know  what  relations  there  may  be  between  the  finite 
and  the  Infinite.  Though  the  finite  can  never  reach  the  Infi- 
nite, yet  we  know  not  what  approximations  may  be  made  to  it. 
When  we  connect  the  idea  here  suggested  with  the  fact  (a  fact, 
at  least,  as  far  as  we  know)  that  the  human  mind  is  capable 
of  infinite  progress,  we  are  lost  in  our  conjectures  as  to  what, 
after  the  laps  3  of  countless  ages  of  eternity,  may  be  the  final 
destiny  of  nmn. 

Divine  Inspiration  affords  occasional  hints  of  something 
very  much  like  what  I  have  here  intimated.  "In  Christ 


UNION   WITH   THE    DIVINE   NATURE.  103 

dwelletli  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily ;"  and  of  all  the 
adopted  sons  of  God,  it  is  said,  "  of  his  fulness  have  we  all 
received."  "  Ye  are  complete  in  him  who  is  the  head  of  all 
principality  and  power."  In  another  place  the  same  Apostle, 
speaking  of  such  as  are  "strengthened  with  might  by  his 
Spirit,  according  to  the  riches  of  his  glory — in  whose  hearts 
Christ  dwells  by  faith — rooted  and  grounded  in  love  ;  that  is, 
all  true  believers,"  he  says,  are  "filled  with  the  fulness  of  God." 
The  expression  here  used,  the  fulness  of  God,  may  fail,  like  all 
other  terms  used  to  describe  the  future  blessedness  of  the 
saint,  to  convey  a  full  and  definite  idea  to  the  mind  as  at  pres- 
ent capacitated.  It  conveys  a  higher  idea  than  we  can  at  pres- 
ent comprehend — an  idea  in  respect  to  the  relation  of  glorified 
humanity  to  God,  as  glorious  and  ecstatic  as  it  is  mysterious 
and  indefinite.  He  that  leaned  on  Jesus'  bosom  reached  after 
the  identity,  and  his  faith  seemed  to  grasp  it,  yet,  while  impris- 
oned in  the  clay,  he  could  not  gauge  the  height  and  the  breadth 
and  the  length  of  the  riches  and  honors  and  pleasures  reserved 
in  heaven  for  the  righteous.  "Behold,"  says  he,  "what  man- 
ner of  love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should 
be  called  the  sons  of  God.  It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we 
shall  be  :  but  we  know  that  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be 
like  him  ;  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is."  A  most  extraordi- 
nary announcement,  intimating,  no  doubt,  the  wonderful,  the 
unutterable  destiny  of  poor  fallen  humanity. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM:  Species  of  Animals— Individual  Varieties— Organs  of  Loco- 
motion—Legs, Wings,  Eyes,  Ears,  Noses— Clothing— Habitations— Weapons  of 
Defence— The  Feathered  Tribes. 

IN  our  visit  to  Nature's  great  Museum  we  have  allowed  the  eye 
to  take  a  cursory  glance  over  the  whole  "  vast  chain  of  being," 
from  the  most  imperfectly  formed  object  to  the  noble  creature 
man,  and  thence  onward  through  all  the  orders  of  higher  in- 
telligences to  the  highest  and  holiest  angel  that  bows  before 
the  throne  of  the  Great  ETERNAL.  We  will  now  turn  aside 
and  look  in  upon  a  single  department  of  the  great  Palace. 
We  recur  to  the  animal  kingdom,  and  limit  ourselves  at  present 
chiefly  to  the  brute  creation. 

As  we  traverse  this  wide  field  of  research  we  shall,  as  we 
pass  from  object  to  object,  especially  note,  as  displaying  the 
peculiar  beauty  of  the  Divine  workmanship,  the  singular  vari- 
ety which  characterizes  the  whole.  We  have  seen  what  a 
beautiful  succession  and  gradation  of  life  there  is  from  the  most 
imperfectly  organized,  jelly-like  polype  to  the  noble  elephant,  or 
the  sagacious  dog  or  monkey ;  each  seeming  to  rival,  in  sagaci- 
ty and  reason,  man  himself.  Every  link  in  this  vast  chain  is 
a  variety.  But  this  is  but  the  beginning  of  animal  varieties — 
scarcely  more  than  a  variety  equal  to  the  number  of  species. 


SPECIES    OF   ANIMALS.  105 

But  the  moment  you  descend  to  sub-species  and  individuals, 
the  number  of  varieties  are  multiplied  beyond  all  computation. 
Here  we  might  spend  our  threescore  years  and  ten,  regal- 
ing each  successive  moment  with  some  new  variety.  Not  less, 
all  told,  than  250,000*  species  of  living  animals,  exclusive  of 
fossil  species,  have  been  enumerated,  including,  in  all,  some 
billions  of  individuals  or  actual  varieties.  Man  alone,  in  each 
successive  generation,  affords  a  specimen  of  800,000,000  indi- 
vidual varieties.  And  were  we  to  descend  to  details,  this  im- 
mense number  would  need  to  be  increased  by  the  aggregate  of 
all  the  varieties  of  each  individual  man ;  physical,  mental, 
moral,  social ;  varieties  of  form,  structure,  size ;  of  taste,  tem- 
perament and  condition ;  of  genius,  habit  and  aptitude.  Sup- 
pose the  entire  race  of  quadrupeds  only,  were  for  a  moment  to 
occupy  the  field  of  our  vision,  what  an  idea  should  we  get  of 
the  manifold  wisdom  of  God  in  moulding  matter  into  so  many 
living  forms.  Allow  the  mind  to  run  down  through  all  the 

*  It  is  estimated  that  there  are  20,000  vertebrated  animals ;  there  are 
probably  2,000  species  of  mammals,  6,000  of  birds,  and  2,000  of  reptiles. 
There  are  probably  8,000  or  10,000  species  of  fishes,  and  more  than  ]  5,000  of 
mollusks.  It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  number  of  species  of  articulated 
animals ;  it  is  supposed  there  are  from  60,000  to  80,000  species  of  insects 
alone,  and  at  least  100,000  of  all  the  species  belonging  to  this  department, 
including  microscopical  animals,  while  some  estimate  it  at  double  that 
number.  Of  the  radiata,  or  fourth  great  division  of  the  animal  kingdom, 
there  are  about  10,000  species,  making  about  250,000  species  of  living  an- 
imals, to  say  nothing  of  fossil  species.  In  the  gallery  of  zoology  of  the 
Jardin  des  Plantes  at  Paris,  it  is  estimated  that  there  are  more  than 
200,000  specimens  of  the  animal  kingdom,  among  which  are  2,000  of  the 
mammalia  of  500  different  species,  and  5,000  of  fishes  of  about  2,500 
species. 

5* 


106  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

intermediate  grades,  from  the  huge,  "half-reasoning"  elephant 
to  the  insignificant  mole,  contemplating  their  respective  form, 
size,  color,  nature,  habits,  dispositions  .and  uses,  and  what  an 
idea  will  you  get  of  the  diversified  character  of  the  Divine 
workmanship ! 

But  would  we  avail  ourselves  of  the  happiest  illustrations 
of  our  subject,  we  must  descend  to  species,  sub-species  and  in 
dividual*.  In  almost  any  race  of  animals  we  meet  a  great 
variety  of  forms,  statures,  colors,  but  they  are  the  most  numer- 
ous in  the  domesticated  animals.  Take  for  examples,  the  dog, 
the  horse,  the  ox,  goats  and  swine.  The  dog  affords  a  fine 
specimen,  not  only  of  the  usual  variety  in  animal  life,  but,  be- 
ing as  he  is  the  companion  of  man  in  all  lands  and  latitudes, 
he  affords  an  equally  good  specimen  of  the  tendency  of  provi- 
dential arrangements  to  produce  variety.  The  hairless,  smooth, 
unctuous-skinned  dog  of  Egypt  is  scarcely  more  like  the  shaggy 
fur-clad  dog  of  the  cold  regions  of  the  north,  than  the  northern 
sheep  is  like  the  southern  goat.-  Whoever  will  have  the  curi- 
osity to  run  down  the  line  of  dogs,  from  the  bloodhound  to  the 
lady's  pet-dog  or  poodle,  inclusive,  he  will  not  lack  an  inter- 
esting illustration  of  our  theme. 

But  a  cursory  survey  of  this  kind  would  at  once  lead  us 
into  the  inquiry  as  to  the  origin  of  dogs,  whether  from  some 
one  species,  as  the  shepherd's  dog,  the  present  varieties  origi- 
nating in  climate,  condition,  usage,  circumstance ;  or  whether 
their  origin  shall  be  traced  to  the  fox,  the  jackal  or  the  wolf, 
or  to  each  of  these  sources. 

But  whether  the  original  type  be  one  or  many,  no  animal 
offers  more  varieties.  The  water  dog  is  covered  with  curly  hair 
almost  as  thick  as  the  fleece  of  a  sheep ;  the  Turkish  dog,  like 


DOGS,  OXEN,  GOATS  AND  HOENED  HOESES.      10 V 

the  Egyptian,  is  totally  destitute  of  hair.  Then  there  is  the 
gaunt  greyhound,  with  long  and  slender  nose  and  legs,  and 
remarkable  for  his  swiftness  and  the  quickness  of  his  scent. 
Another  species  of  hound  is  of  a  thick,  robust  form,  with  a 
short,  obtuse  nose,  less  swift,  but  not  of  a  less  keen  sense  of 
smell.  But  we  should  not  soon  find  an  end  of  the  varieties  of 
this  species  of  animal.  In  form,  size,  color,  dispositions,  apti- 
tudes, and  the  various  ways  in  which  they  serve  man,  they  bear 
a  no  slight  resemblance  to  our  own  race. 

The  horse  and  the  ox  kinds  furnish  exceedingly  interesting 
varieties.  Between  the  noble  Arab  and  the  contemptible  pack- 
horse  of  Northern  Germany  or  South  America,  how  varied  the 
gradations.  In  size,  form,  structure,  qualities,  capabilities, 
color,  temperament,  how  varied. 

We  meet  the  long-legged  ox  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and 
the  short-legged  cattle  of  England — cattle  with  long  horns  and 
short  horns — with  all  sorts  of  horns  and  no  horns.  In  Crete 
and  Sicily,  the  cattle  and  sheep  differ  from  those  of  most  other 
countries  in  the  number  and  size  of  their  horns.  In  Paraguay 
we  meet  a  breed  of  oxen  without  horns.  A  writer  (Azara)  has 
stated  that  the  lack  of  horns  in  the  bovine  kind,  is  sometimes 
compensated  by  the  fact  that  horses  are  sometimes  seen  rearing 
above  their  ears  a  pair  of  horns.  In  India,  we  have  often  seen 
sheep  furnished  with  four  horns  each. 

The  goat  tribes  furnish  fine  specimens  of  variety.  A  breed 
near  Jerusalem,  presents  a  grotesque  medley  of  color,  as  black, 
white,  gray,  with  ears  remarkably  long.  About  Aleppo  are 
two  kinds  of  goats,  one  like  the  English,  and  the  other  some- 
what larger,  with  ears  a  foot  long  and  proportionally  broad. 

In  few  races  of  animals  has  Nature  been  more  lavish  of  he* 


108          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

ingenuity  in  variegating  her  works,  than  in  the  swine  tribes. 
This  very  common  and  numerous  species  of  animal,  was  un- 
known in  America  till  after  its  discovery  by  the  Spaniards, 
yet  already,  how  one  breed  differs  from  another,  and  how  all 
differ  from  the  original  stock.  The  European  swine  which 
were  first  carried  by  the  Spaniards  to  the  Island  of  Cologna, 
degenerated  into  a  monstrous  race,  with  toes  which  were  half 
a  span  in  length.  The  hoofs  of  swine  elsewhere,  have  been 
found  divided  into  five  clefts.  While,  on  the  other  hand, 
swine  with  solid  hoofs  were  known  to  the  ancients,  as  they  are 
found  to  this  day,  in  some  parts  of  England.  And  different 
breeds  of  sheep  afford  varieties  equally  remarkable.  Some 
have  a  coating  of  wool  as  fine  as  silk,  others,  a  covering  as 
coarse  as  hair.  Some  have  two  horns ;  some,  as  the  Icelandic, 
three,  four,  and  even  eight ;  and  more  have  none  at  all.  And 
these  horns  assume  every  conceivable  form.  And  what  variety 
in  the  appendages  called  tails.  Some  range  within  reasonable 
limits  of  such  appendages ;  others  are  hugely  large.  The 
Syrian  sheep  drag  after  them  a  caudal  weight  of  fifteen 
pounds,  and  sometimes  five  times  that  weight. 

The  domestic  foiql  is  a  good  example.  It  is  large  or  small, 
tall  or  dwarfish — single  or  double-combed — of  every  conceiva- 
ble color  and  plumage — tufts  of  feathers  on  its  head — yellow, 
white  or  black  legs,  or  legs  covered  with  feathers  or  bare,  and 
rumps  or  no  rumps. 

The  coverings  and  habitations  of  animals  furnish  another 
pleasant  variety  in  their  history ;  among  the  most  obvious  of 
which  we  meet  hair,  wool,  fur,  bristles,  feathers,  quills,  scales 
and  shells ;  and  we  find  them  constructing  for  themselves,  or 
appropriating  to  their  use,  every  imaginable  form  and  kind  of 


THE   BEAVER   AND   HIS   HABITS.  109 

dwelling :  some  dig  burrows  in  the  earth ;  others  seek  a  habi- 
tation in  the  clefts  of  rocks,  or  in  the  cavities  of  decayed  trees, 
and  others  absolutely  construct  cabins  or  houses  with  no  incon- 
siderable skill  and  labor.  The  subject  is  a  very  curious  one 
and  worthy  of  some  reflection.  The  various  skill  employed,  the 
various  materials  used,  and  the  various  structures  produced, 
affords  an  apt  illustration  of  our  general  idea.  We  can  name 
but  a  few  instances. 

The  beaver  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  extraordinary. 
These  wonderful  animals,  at  present  scarcely  known  in  our 
latitudes,  yet  still  inhabiting  more  northern  regions,  collect  in 
communities  of  200  or  300  in  the  month  of  June  or  July, 
pouring  in  from  every  quarter,  as  to  an  appointed  rendezvous, 
by  some  common  summons  or  by  some  singular  impulse.  The 
place  of  assemblage  is  always  the  bank  of  some  water.  If  it 
be  a  lake  or  pond,  and  not  subject  to  risings  or  fallings  above 
a  common  level,  they  make  no  dam,  but  immediately  set  about 
constructing  their  habitations.  If  a  dam  be  needful,  they  be- 
take themselves  to  its  construction  in  a  manner  quite  astonish- 
ing. First,  they  fell  a  large  tree  across  the  stream  as  the 
basis  of  their  work,  and  then  by  the  aid  of  smaller  trees,  cut  to 
the  right  length,  and  boughs  and  earth,  or  stones,  they  con- 
struct a  dam  which,  for  strength  and  solidity,  is  all  but  incred- 
ible. This  being  accomplished,  the  community  at  once  divide 
themselves  into  separate  families,  each  constructing  for  itself  a 
domestic  dwelling,  which  they  build  near  the  margin  of  the 
pond,  on  piles  driven  down  for  the  purpose.  On  these  they 
erect  a  round  or  oval  house  of  great  solidity ;  one,  two  and 
sometimes  three  stories  high,  with  two  doors,  the  one  affording 
a  passage  to  the  land  and  the  other  to  the  water. 


110  THE  PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

The  varied  styles  of  architecture  employed  by  different 
species  of  birds,  in  the  construction  of  their  nests,  the  different 
materials  used,  and  the  different  locations  and  positions 
selected,  have  been  greatly  admired.  No  two  species  con- 
struct their  nests  of  precisely  the  same  material.  Some  use 
mud  or  clay ;  some  sticks,  grass,  hair,  moss,  feathers,  or  bones 
cemented  together;  and  no  two  build  in  the  same  place. 
Some  choose  the  cavities  of  trees,  or  the  branch,  or  some  slen- 
der twig  of  a  tree,  or  the  trunk  of  the  tree  ;  others  select  the 
cleft  of  a  rock,  or  build  in  some  sheltered  place  on  the  ground, 
or  attach  their  nests  to  a  wall  or  chimney,  or  the  rafter  of  a 
barn,  or  the  cross-piece  of  a  bridge.  The  kingly  eagle  selects 
the  lone  peak  of  some  lofty  mountain,  constructs  a  substantial 
platform,  designed  to  last  for  years,  of  sticks  of  five  or  six  feet 
long,  supported  at  each  end  by  a  rock  or  tree,  and  covered 
with  successive  layers  of  heath  and  rushes.  The  surface  which 
contains  the  eggs  is  flat,  not  hollow  like  the  nests  of  other 
birds.  Quite  in  contrast  to  this,  the  magpie  and  the  titmouse 
build  nests  which  are  not  only  hollow  like  the  nests  of  most 
birds,  but  are  protected  by  a  curiously  wrought  dome,  and  entered 
by  an  opening  in  the  side.  "  Some  form  their  pensile  nests  in 
the  form  of  a  purse,  deep,  and  open  at  the  top ;  others,  with  a 
hole  in  the  side ;  and  others,  still  more  cautious,  with  an  en- 
trance at  the  very  bottom,  forming  their  lodge  near  the  sum- 
mit." The  tailor-bird,  not  willing  to  trust  its  nest  even  at  the 
extremity  of  a  twig,  fixes  it  to  a  leaf.  It  picks  a  dead  leaf, 
and  with  its  bill  for  a  needle  and  some  fine  fibres  for  thread, 
sews  it  to  a  living  leaf,  which,  lined  with  feathers,  gossamer  and 
down,  serves  as  a  nest. 

The  mason-bee  constructs  its  cells  and  covers  them  with  a 


BEES,    WASPS   AND   ANTS.  Ill 

ro.igh,  substantial  mortar,  composed  of  sand  and  a  secretion 
from  its  own  body.  The  bee  called  the  wood-piercer  perforates 
a  dry  or  decayed  tree,  first  in  the  direction  of  the  heart,  and 
then  extending  twelve  or  fifteen  inches  at  right  angles  up- 
wards. These  long  holes  are  subdivided  by  partitions  com- 
posed of  particles  of  wood  cemented  by  a  secretion  from  the 
animal's  mouth.  In  each  compartment  an  egg  is  deposited, 
together  with  the  necessary  provision  for  the  young  one  when 
hatched.  Another  species  of  these  "  solitary  bees "  construct 
cells  somewhat  similar  under  ground,  and  having  in  like  man- 
ner provided  for  their  future  offspring,  leave  them,  as  in  the 
case  above,  to  take  care  of  themselves. 

Most  people  are  aware  of  the  ingenious  devices  by  which 
various  kinds  of  wasps  construct  their  habitations,  build  their 
cells  and  provide  for  their  young ;  all,  however,  are  surpassed 
by  the  skill  and  sagacity  of  the  honey-bee.  The  various 
species  of  ants  have  each  a  style  of  architecture,  and  use  a 
species  of  building  material  peculiar  to  itself.  Some  construct 
a  habitation  below  the  surface  of  the  earth  ;  some  drill  holes  in 
trees  and  form  their  nests  there ;  others  build  on  the  trunks 
or  branches  of  trees ;  while  others  still,  as  the  termites,  erect 
palaces,  partly  below  ground,  yet  extending  above  the  surface 
twelve  or  fifteen  feet.  These  "  ant  hills,"  met  in  tropical 
regions,  are  built  with  an  astonishing  degree  of  skill  and  labor. 
They  contain  a  great  variety  of  apartments,  and,  as  seen  from  a 
distance,,  might  be  taken  for  the  huts  of  the  natives. 

As  nearly  related  to  the  above,  we  have  the  various  modes 
in  which  different  animals  nourish  or  provide  for  their  offspring. 
The  mammalia  nourish  theirs  from  their  own  body.  The  do- 
domestic  fowl  scratches  for  hers.  Most  birds  bring  food  to 


112  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GEEAT   KING. 

their  young  in  their  bills.  Bees  and  wasps  of  different  kinds 
provide  stores  for  their  young  beforehand.  The  wood-piercer, 
to  which  I  have  referred,  builds  the  cell  and  fills  it  with  pro- 
vision for  the  young  ones,  deposits  her  eggs,  and  exercises 
no  further  regard  for  either  eggs  or  young  ones.  The  young 
of  some  species  are  from  the  very  first  capable  of  providing  for 
themselves. 

Again,  we  discover  among  animals  a  curious  variety  in 
modes  of  procuring  their  food.  Some  seek  it,  labor  hard  for  it, 
and  prepare  it  at  great  expense ;  others  have  it  brought  to  them 
all  prepared,  without  any  care  or  trouble  to  themselves.  The 
toad  patiently  waits  till  the  heedless  fly  comes  within  the  in- 
fluence of  its  suction,  when  it  is  drawn  in  and  devoured.  The 
chicken,  with  his  delicate  nippers,  picks  up  the  seed  or  bug  it 
has  disinterred  with  its  claws.  The  domestic  animals  depend 
for  their  supplies  on  the  care  of  man.  The  tenants  of  the 
forest  and  the  birds  of  the  air  procure  their  daily  supplies  in 
all  sorts  of  ways  and  by  all  sorts  of  means. 

And  there  is  also  as  great  a  diversity  in  modes  of  appro- 
priating food  or  bringing  it  to  the  mouth.  Most  animals  ha,ve 
no  other  prehensile  organ  but  the  mouth  itself,  whether  it  be  a 
bill,  or  jaws,  or  snout  or  proboscis.  A  few,  as  the  squirrel,  the 
monkey,  can  bring  their  food  to  their  mouth  by  their  fore-paws 
acting  as  hands.  Some  animals,  by  means  of  their  claws  and 
bill  or  teeth,  first  tear  their  food  and  separate  it  into  small  por- 
tions and  then  convey  it  to  the  mouth ;  others  can  appropriate 
nothing  except  what  they  can  swallow  whole ;  some  are  sup- 
plied with  a  spoon,  or  a  knife,  or  a  fork,  or  a  hook ;  others,  as 
the  elephant,  with  a  flexible  arm.  The  wood-pecker  darts  his 
long  tongue  into  a  crevice  of  the  wood,  and  thence  extracts  his 


EYES   AND   MODES    OF   VISION.  113 

food.  Some  tribes  of  animals,  as  vinegar  eels,  having  no 
mouth,  seem  to  take  their  food  by  absorption. 

There  is  also  a  like  variety  in  modes  of  vision.  Some  see 
through  eyes,  some  without  them.  -  And  there  is  no  stereo- 
typed fashion  in  the  matter  of  eyes.  In  few  things  has  Na- 
ture's love  of  variety  been  more  capriciously  displayed.  Most 
animals  have  eyes  which  are  so  numerously  supplied  with 
delicate  muscles  that  they  may  fix  on  almost  an  infinite  num- 
ber of  points  in  more  than  half  a  hemisphere,  without  chang- 
ing the  position  of  the  head.  Some  have  eyes  in  different 
parts  of  the  body.  One  species  of  butterfly,  and  that  by  no 
means  among  the  largest,  is  reported  by  the  wise  men  of  the 
microscope  to  have  "  nearly  35,000,000  eyes."  These  are  dis- 
tributed over  every  part  of  the  body,  and  thus,  whatever  may 
be  the  position  of  the  insect,  "  no  danger  can  approach  unper- 
ceived,  as  a  sentinel  keeps  watch  in  every  quarter." 

Other  insects,  as  the  beetle,  the  silk-worm,  and  several 
kinds  of  flies,  have  two  fixed  eyes  or  protuberances,  which  are 
supplied,  some  with  two,  some  with  eight,  some  with  a 
hundred  or  a  thousand  lenses,  which  are  capable  of  seeing  in 
every  direction.  The  whole  surface  of  these  protuberances,  as 
seen  in  the  fly,  is  covered  with  a  multitude  of  small  hemi- 
spheres, placed  with  the  utmost  regularity  in  rows,  crossing 
each  other  in  a  kind  of  lattice-work.  These  little  hemispheres 
have  each  of  them  a  minute  transparent  convex  lens  in  the 
middle,  each  of  which  has  a  distinct  branch  of  the  optic  nerve 
ministering  to  it ;  so  that  the  different  lenses  may  be  con- 
sidered as  so  many  distinct  eyes.  Mr.  Lewenhock  counted 
6,236  in  the  two  eyes  of  a  silk-worm  when  in  its  fly  state ; 
3,180  in  each  eye  of  the  beetle ;  8,000  in  the  two  eyes  of  a 


114  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

common  fly.  Mr.  Hook  reckoned  14,000  in  the  eyes  of  a  drone 
fly,  and  in  .one  of  the  eyes  of  a  dragon-fly  there  have  been 
reckoned  13,500  of  these  lenses;  in  both  eyes  27,000  ;  every 
one  of  which  is  capable  of  forming  a  distinct  image  of  any  ob- 
ject, in  the  same  manner  as  a  common  convex  glass.  There 
are  27,000  images  formed  on  the  retina  of  this  little  animal.* 
Mr.  Lewenhock  having  prepared  the  eye  of  a  fly  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  so  adjusted  it  in  respect  to  his  microscope  that  he 
could  look  through  both,  in  the  manner  of  a  telescope,  looked 
at  the  steeple  of  a  church,  which  was  299  feet  high,  and  750 
distant.  He  could  plainly  see  through  every  little  lens  the 
whole  steeple  inverted,  though  not  larger  than  the  point  of  a 
needle.  When  he  directed  it  to  a  neighboring  house,  he  saw 
not  only  the  front,  but  the  doors  and  the  windows ;  and  could 
discern  whether  the  windows  were  open  or  shut.  "  Such  an 
exquisite  piece  of  Divine  mechanism  transcends  all  human 
comprehension." 

Similar  remarks  might  be  made  in  respect  to  the  teeth,  ears, 
noses,  and  snouts  or  bills  of  animals.  Some  have  teeth  both 
on  the  upper  and  lower  jaw ;  others  only  on  the  lower.  In 
some  each  stands  separate ;  in  others  they  stand  continuous  and 
united.  Some  teeth  are  straight,  others  hooked ;  some  slen- 
der and  pointed  for  tearing,  biting,  or  holding  only ;  others 
firm  and  blunt,  for  chewing  and  grinding.  The  palate  of  some 
fishes  is  nothing  else  than  a  bony  plate  studded  with  points 
which  perform  the  office  of  teeth. 

And  more  curiously  varied  yet  would  be  the  portraits  of  the 
ears  and  noses  of  every  species  of  animal.  But  to  pass  that  singu- 
lar appendage  called  the  ear,  wondering  how  it  were  possible 

*  Dick's  Christian  Philosopher,  pp.  SO,  81. 


THE   FOOD    OF   ANIMALS.  115 

there  could  be  so  many  distinct  patterns  of  one  and  the  same 
thing,  we  will  pause  a  moment  at  that  anterior  extremity  of  the 
animal  called  the  nose,  snout,  or  bill.  And  what  an  endless 
variety  in  shape,  structure  and  use.  There  is  the  proboscis  of 
the  elephant ;  the  snout  of  a  certain  fish ;  the  rooter  of  the 
swine  ;  the  peculiar  bill  of  the  stork  ;  the  spoon  of  one  bird  and 
the  drill  of  another.  And  so  we  might  go  through  the  whole 
catalogue  of  beasts,  birds,  fish  and  insects ;  we  should  recog- 
nize in  this  curious  variety,  the  wise  and  benevolent  provisions 
by  which  every  species  of  animal  is  fitted  to  its  place  and 
mode  of  life. 

The  same  benevolent  arrangement  appears  again  in  the  di- 
versified predilections  of  different  animals  for  different  kinds 
of  food  and  different  modes  of  life.  Perhaps  there  is  not  a 
substance,  either  vegetable  or  animal,  dead  or  alive,  which  does 
not  serve  as  food  for  some  species  of  animals.  Every  kind  of 
flesh,  fish,  fowl  and  insect,  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  taste  of 
some  animal.  Even  what  is  poison  to  one  is  food  for  another. 
What  is  avoided  and  rejected  by  one  is  sought  and  eagerly  de- 
voured by  another.  Some  carniverous  animals  will  feed  on 
nothing  but  dead  carcasses ;  others  select  some  particular  part 
of  the  fresh  carcass ;  others  will  appropriate  no  part  but  the 
blood.  Infinitely  diversified  as  are  the  productions  of  vegeta- 
ble nature,  there  is  probably  not  a  grain,  fruit,  leaf,  grass  or 
plant,  which  is  not  adapted  to  meet  some  animal  want.  And 
so  we  may  say  of  all  kinds  of  flesh.  There  is  no  such  thing 
as  a  useless  order  of  beings,  whether  herb,  insect  or  larger  an- 
imal. Each  has  its  place  and  use  in  the  great  system  of  life 
and  activity — though  it  be  the  most  noisome  insect  or  the  bit- 
terest herb.  Strike  one  from  existence  and  you  have  not  only 


116          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

mutilated  the  great  machine,  but  you  have  annihilated  a  whole 
order  of  beings  by  annihilating  its  means  of  subsistence.  And 
the  annihilated  order,  serving,  as  it  did,  as  the  sustenance  of 
another  order,  that  is  in  turn  annihilated ;  and  so  on  from  or- 
der to  order,  till  the  whole  vast  series  would  at  length  disap- 
pear. 

Open  the  volume  where  you  will,  the  wonders  of  Philoso- 
phy afford  profuse  examples  of  a  character  such  as  are  adduced 
above.  I  quote  the  following :  "  The  polypus,  like  the  fabled 
hydra,  receives  new  life  from  the  knife  which  is  lifted  to  de- 
stroy it.  There  are  4,041  muscles  in  a  caterpillar.  Hook  dis- 
covered 14,000  mirrors  in  the  eyes  of  a  drone  ;  and  to  effect  the 
respiration  of  a  carp,  13,300  arteries,  vessels,  veins  and  bones, 
&c.,  are  necessary.  The  body  of  every  spider  contains  four  lit- 
tle masses  pierced  with  a  multitude  of  imperceptible  holes,  each 
hole  permitting  the  passage  of  a  single  thread  ;  all  the  threads, 
to  the  amount  of  a  thousand  to  each  mass,  join  together  when 
they  come  out,  and  make  the  single  thread  with  which  the  spider 
spins  his  web  ;  so  that  what  we  call  a  spider's  thread  consists 
of  more  than  4,000  united.  Lewenhock,  by  means  of  micro- 
scopes, observed  spiders  no  bigger  than  a  grain  of  sand,  which 
spun  thread  so  fine  that  it  took  4,000  of  them  to  equal  in  mag- 
nitude a  single  hair." 

Again,  we  discover,  as  we  allow  the  eye  to  pass  over  Na- 
ture's great  Menagerie,  curious  varieties  in  modes  of  locomotion. 
Some  walk  upright,  some  on  two,  four  or  more  feet — some  hop 
— some  crawl.  Others  move  by  continued  contortions  of  the 
body  and  spinal  motions,  propelling  the  body  forward,  as  the 
serpent ;  some  move  by  elevating  the  centre  of  the  body,  draw- 
ing up  the  hinder  part,  and  then  protruding  the  forward  part 


OEGANS    OF   LOCOMOTION.  117 

of  the  body.  Some  are  rowed  by  fins ;  others  soar  on  their 
wings  as  borne  on  the  air.  Some  roll  as  a  wheel.  Others,  as 
the  nautilus  and  the  argonaut,  are  able  to  raise  a  sail  and  make 
the  wind  their  locomotive  power.  Or  the  apparatus  that  at  one 
time  serves  as  a  sail,  may  be  gathered  up  and  used  as  an  oar. 

Dr.  Nordmann,  in  his  curious  examinations  of  animalcula, 
speaks  of  one  species  which  he  discovered  in  the  intestinal 
canal  of  a  very  singular  little  insect  that  infests  the  eye  of  the 
perch,  as  possessed  of  a  very  unique  locomotive  power.  When 
separated  from  the  membrane  which  inclosed  them,  they  im- 
mediately turned  round  on  their  axis  with  great  velocity,  and 
then  jumped  a  certain  distance  in  a  straight  line,  when  they 
again  revolved,  and  again  took  a  second  leap. 

The  oyster,  till  recently  supposed  to  be  without  the  power 
of  locomotion,  manages  to  change  locality,  though  at  a  very 
indifferent  speed,  by  squirting  water  from  his  shell,  by  which 
means  he  agitates  the  water  about  him,  and  thus  propels  him- 
self forward.  Another  bivalve,  the  muscle,  moves  itself  by  a 
sort  of  tongue,  capable  of  contraction  and  elongation,  and 
serves  as  an  arm  and  a  foot.  The  snail,  with  his  house  on 
his  back,  moves  on  at  a  pace  and  in  a  manner  peculiarly  his 
own. 

And  the  organs  of  locomotion  exhibit  an  equally  interest- 
ing variety :  legs  of  every  shape  and  structure,  and  in  all  num- 
bers ;  fins  of  every  conceivable  pattern ;  and  wings  from  the 
mere  extension  of  the  skin  of  the  bat,  or  the  flying-squirrel,  to 
the  long,  perfect  wings  of  the  swallow,  or  of  the  noble  eagle. 
Some  animals  are  furnished  with  two  legs,  some  with  four, 
some  with  twenty,  a  hundred  or  a  thousand.  And  some 
wend  their  way  over  the  earth  with  great  swiftness  without 


118  THE  PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

legs.  Some,  as  I  have  said,  move  over  the  face  of  the  water 
by  means  of  sails. 

There  is  a  single  instance  of  a  species  of  insects  called 
Molluscans,  which  have  but  one  leg.  But  this  one  leg  serves 
the  purpose,  too,  of  a  hand ;  which,  at  one  time,  spins  the  fine 
silken  thread  by  which  it  is  attached  to  the  rock,  or  it  serves 
as  an  auger  to  bore  the  rock  and  prepare  its  lodgment  there, 
or  it  is  used  for  certain  purposes  as  a  trowel.  Some  animals 
are  prepared  with  organs  for  climbing,  others  for  burrowing, 
others  for  perforating  trees  for  food  or  a  habitation  :  or  for 
ensnaring  an  enemy,  or  tearing  to  pieces  a  victim. 

The  varied  structure,  uses  and  adaptations  of  legs,  is  a 
curious  affair.  The  legs  of  insects  that  swim  are  peculiarly 
fitted  to  it,  either  by  being  expanded  somewhat  like  an  oar,  or 
by  having  a  dense  fringe  of  hair  upon  them.  The  water-boat- 
man swims  on  his  back  by  means  of  singularly  formed  legs. 
The  little  whirligig  swims  by  the  help  of  his  legs,  which  are 
paddle-shaped.  Some  insects,  by  means,  it  may  be,  of  some 
peculiar  secretion  which  repels  water,  are  able  to  walk  on  its 
surface  as  readily  as  upon  a  solid  substance.  Another  class 
have  legs  of  so  peculiar  a  structure  that  they  can  fold  them 
upon  each  other  and  pack  them  into  a  very  small  surface. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  in  a  species  of  woodlouse,  which 
rolls  itself  up  into  a  ball  precisely  resembling  a  bead  or  a  pill. 
But  the  delusion  is  easily  detected,  as  the  girl  learned,  when 
having  found  in  the  garden,  as  she  supposed,  a  large  number 
of  round,  black,  shining  beads,  streaked  with  white,  undertook 
to  form  them  into  a  necklace.  The  point  of  her  needle  soon 
brought  out  a  protruding  head,  which  quite  spoiled  the  rotun- 
dity of  the  bead. 


THE   MOTION    OF   ANIMALS.  119 

Indeed,  we  can  scarcely  contemplate  a  subject  of  more 
pleasing  interest  than  the  motions  of  animals — by  what  organs 
performed  and  to  what  end — and  how  varied.  Now  we  see 
various  species  of  living  beings,  hugely  great  and  beautifully 
small,  gliding  through  the  waters,  with  an  ease,  rapidity  and 
grace  quite  astonishing.  Then  we  behold  the  bird  of  every 
wing,  with  equal  ease  and  grace,  sailing  through  the  air ;  as- 
cending above  the  clouds,  or  diving  to  the  earth,  or  poising 
itself  in  mid-heaven — to  say  nothing  of  all  the  endlessly  varied 
motions  of  all  that  creep  or"  walk  or  run  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth,  or  under  the  earth. 

But  our  wonder  is  vastly  increased  when  we  attempt  to 
enter  the  interior  of  one  of  these  living  machines,  and  examine 
the  singularly  varied  arrangements  and  provisions  by  which 
these  endlessly  diversified  motions  of  sentient  beings  are  pro- 
duced. Every  motion  of  every  hand,  foot,  finger,  joint,  eye 
or  tongue ;  of  every  fin,  wing,  paddle  or  sail,  is  produced  by 
its  own  peculiar  set  of  joints,  muscles  and  tendons,  according  to 
the  species  of  the  animal  and  the  character  of  the  action  to  be 
produced.  Hundreds  of  muscles  are  employed  in  the  motions 
of  the  eye  alone.  In  moving  it  up  or  down,  or  to  either  side ; 
in  dilating  or  contracting  the  pupil ;  or  adjusting  the  eye  for 
a  near  or  remote  vision,  different  sets  of  muscles  are  employed : 
and  so  in  all  the  various  and  peculiar  motions  of  the  fingers 
and  wrists  of  the  human  body — or  in  the  more  delicate  (and 
sometimes  involuntary)  motions  of  breathing,  tasting  and  smell- 
ing. Every  distinct  motion  has  its  peculiar  organs.  What 
forethought,  contrivance  and  skill  are  displayed  in  this  mat- 
ter of  vital  activity!  What  nice  calculations  as  to  bones, 
nerves,  muscles,  tendons,  joints,  and  all  the  varied  apparatus 


120  THE   PALACE    OF   THE    GREAT   KING. 

which  secures,  or  directly  produces  motion.  We  admire  the 
genius  that  contrives,  builds  and  successfully  sets  and  keeps 
in  motion  a  great  and  complicated  piece  of  machinery.  How 
many  wheels,  arrd  bands,  and  wires ;  cogs,  coils,  screws,  pins, 
loops,  and  all  sorts  of  appurtenances  of  all  forms,  sizes  and 
uses,  are  combined  to  secure  the  successful  working  of  the 
whole  machine. 

But  what  is  this  compared  to  the  mechanism  of  an  animal 
body,  which  secures,  with  perfect  ease,  and  oftentimes  by  con- 
trivances inconceivably  delicate,  the  ten  thousand  motions  of 
the  living  machine.  It  is  a  "harp  of  a  thousand  strings." 
Strange  that  it  keeps  in  tune  so  long. 

Again,  as  we  look  over  the  great  arena  of  animal  existence, 
we  discover  a  variety  none  the  less  interesting  in  modes  and 
instruments  of  attack  and  defence.  Among  the  more  obvious 
and  powerful  weapons  of  warfare  with  which  nature  has  fur- 
nished its  creatures,  we  see  horns,  hoofs,  antlers,  teeth  and  claws. 
Bees,  wasps,  and  some  other  insects  are  armed  with  a  sting. 
The  king  of  the  feathered  tribes  smites  his  enemy  with  his 
wing.  The  monarch  of  the  deep  strikes  with  his  tail.  With 
this  mighty  weapon  he  might  sink  a  ship.  The  king  of  the 
woods  awes  into  obedience  the  tenants  of  the  forest,  or  executes 
vengeance  on  his  enemies,  or  siezes  and  tears  his  victims  of 
prey,  by  means  of  claws  and  teeth.  One  kind  of  fish,  called 
the  sword-fish,  is  furnished  with  a  weapon  of  defence  or  attack 
in  a  long  sword-like  snout.  The  cuttle-fish  eludes  the  pursuit 
of  his  enemy,  by  enveloping  himself  with  a  black  fluid  which 
he  has  the  power  to  emit  from  his  mouth.  Cattle  when  at- 
tacked by  a  bear  or  other  rapacious  beasts,  will  form  a  close 
phalanx  and  show  a  formidable  array  of  horns.  Under  similar 


MODES    OF   DEFENCE.  121 

circumstances,  horses  will  form  a  close  line  and  give  an  enemy 
a  broadside  of  heels. 

Some  animals,  as  the  porcupine  and  hedgehog,  are  defend- 
ed by  a  singular  coat  of  armor.  They  are  armed  on  their  sides 
and  back  with  spines  or  quills,  which  prove  formidable  to  dogs, 
wolves  or  any  animal  that  should  attempt  to  capture  them. 
These  animals,  too,  have  the  power  to  roll  themselves  up  like 
a  ball,  and  in  this  form  they  present  a  phalanx  of  spears  which 
no  animal  will  knowingly  attack. 

The  defence  and  security  of  some  animals  lie  in  their 
strength ;  of  others,  in  their  swiftness ;  of  others,  as  the  fox, 
in  their  cunning.  Many  seek  protection  by  burrowing  in  the 
earth.  Oysters,  clams,  and  all  the  various  species  of  shell-fish, 
are  furnished  with  a  hard,  calcareous  covering,  within  which 
they  have  the  power  to  ensconce  themselves  and  remain  secure 
from  every  attack.  The  spider  ingeniously  weaves  his  web, 
and  not  only  sits  in  the  centre  secure  from  harm,  but  entraps 
his  unwary  victim.  The  ant  digs  a  hole  in  the  sand  and  then 
conceals  herself  in  the  bottom  till  her  prey  falls  in,  and  she 
devours  it.  Other  animals  have  the  power  of  slaying  their  prey 
by  infusing  a  poison  into  their  veins  and  producing  almost  in- 
stant death. 

But  one  of  the  most  singular  and  effective  modes  of  self- 
defence  remains  yet  to  be  mentioned.  It  is  that  of  the  North 
American  skunk.  This  animal,  when  attacked,  or  threatened 
with  danger,  is  able  to  discharge  on  its  assailants,  "  an  intol- 
erable stifling  stench,"  which  is  quite  sure  to  give  the  assailant 
the  worst  of  the  battle.  Perfectly  confident  in  the  potency  of 
his  munitions  of  war  and  feeling  quite  safe  behind  his  intrench- 
ments,  the  skunk  is  one  of  the  most  fearless  animals  to  be  met. 
6 


122  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

So  unsuspicious  is  he  of  danger,  that  he  seems  to  invite  attack , 
but  woe  to  the  assailant,  man  or  beast,  who  dares  to  encounter 
the  artillery  of  such  a  foe.  Sometimes  an  inexperienced  dog 
is  seen  to  attempt  to  seize  this  formidable  foe ;  he  finds  him- 
self utterly  discomfited,  and  runs  away  howling  and  endeavor- 
ing to  thrust  his  nose  into  the  ground. 

I  had  designed  to  make  a  more  special  reference  to  the 
feathered  tribes.  This  department  of  Natural  History  is 
everywhere  rich  in  beautiful  varieties.  You  may  trace  them 
up,  through  a  most  charming  succession,  all  the  way  from  the 
exquisite  little  humming-bird  to  the  heaven-daring  eagle — note 
the  songsters  of  the  morning,  not  only  as  to  size,  form  and 
plumage,  but  as  to  the  diversified  character  and  sweetness  of 
their  notes,  as  in  the  compass  of  their  music  they  pass  through 
two,  and  sometimes  three  octaves.  And  how  they  differ  in 
sprightliness,  beauty,  and  a  thousand  distinctive  characteris- 
tics. You  may  traverse,  and  search  every  meadow,  river, 
island  and  shore,  till  you  have  seen  every  bird  of  every  wing, 
and  you  will  but  find  Nature's  love  for  variety  yet  more  and 
more  beautifully  illustrated. 

"  The  feathered  tribes  form  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
striking  features  of  creation.  Their  varied  and  often  brilliant 
plumage,  and  infinite  diversity  of  form  and  size  and  color,  with 
their  peculiar  powers  of  flight,  often  accompanied  with  the 
precious  gift  of  song,  combine,  with  their  habits,  instincts  and 
endearing  associations,  to  render  them  objects  of  special  in- 
terest." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Animal  Kingdom— The  Microscopic  "World  :  Yariety  of  Temperament— Sagacity 
—Activity— Precocity— Productiveness-  Migrations  of  Animals— Fishes. 

WE  have  no  need  to  stop  at  the  boundary  beyond  which  the 
unassisted  eye  cannot  reach.  We  may  plunge  deep  as  we  will 
into  that  world  of  wonderful  workmanship  which  the  micro- 
scope alone  reveals,  and  survey  its  boundless  domains  of  ani- 
mal life,  and  we  shall  find  that  our  principle  will  hold  to  the 
uttermost  verge  of  microscopic  vision.  The  same  never-failing 
variety  pervades  all  this  exquisitely  delicate  workmanship. 

In  the  brief  survey  already  made  in  the  field  of  animated 
existence,  we  have  had  occasion  to  admire,  not  only  the  "  mul- 
titudinous races  "  that  people  every  element  and  clime,  and  all 
the  ever-changing,  ever-varied  forms  and  natures  which  meet 
the  eye  in  every  region  of  animal  life,  but  we  had  occasion  to 
admire  no  less  profoundly  the  endless  profusion  of  living 
beings  with  which  every  object  teems.  Earth,  air,  water,  is 
instinct  with  life.  Vegetables,  flowers  and  animals  themselves, 
both  dead  and  alive,  supply  habitations  and  food  for  their 
various  tribes  of  living  beings.  "  What  profusion  of  being  is 
displayed  in  the  wide  expanse  of  the  ocean,  through  which  are 
scattered  such  various  and  such  unknown  multitudes  of  ani- 
mals." And  in  the  yet  broader  and  deeper  expanse  of  the 


124         THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

atmosphere,  what  a  boundless  field  of  animal  existence ;  and 
how  varied  and  multitudinous,  from  the  kingly  eagle  down 
through  every  imaginable  diversity  of  form,  size,  habits,  char- 
acter and  pursuits,  to  the  minutest  living  speck  that  floats  in 
the  air.  And  if  we  traverse  every  region  of  the  globe,  "  from 
the  scorching  sands  of  the  equator  to  the  icy  realms  of  the 
poles,  or  from  the  lofty  mountain  summits  to  the  dark  abysses 
of  the  deep ;  if  we  penetrate  into  the  shades  of  the  forest,  or 
into  the  caverns  and  secret  recesses  of  the  earth ;  nay,  if  we 
take  up  the  minutest  portion  of  stagnant  water,  we  still  meet 
with  life  in  some  new  and  unexpected  form,  yet  ever  adapted 
to  the  circumstances  of  its  situation.  Wherever  life  can  be 
sustained,  we  find  life  pro'duced.  It  would  almost  seem  as  if 
nature  had  been  thus  lavish  and  sportive  in  her  productions 
with  the  intent  to  demonstrate  to  man  the  fertility  of  her  re- 
sources, and  the  inexhaustible  fund  from  which  she  has  so  pro- 
digally supplied  the  means  requisite  for  the  maintenance  of 
all  these  diversified  combinations,  for  their  repetition  in  endless 
perpetuity,  and  for  their  subordination  to  one  harmonious 
scheme  of  general  good."* 

But  the  moment  we  pass  the  line  which  divides  the  visible 
from  the  invisible,  and  enter  the  domains  of  life  revealed  by 
the  microscope,  we  find  ourselves  amid  worlds  before  unknown. 
And  nothing  more  astonishes  us  at  the  first  discovery,  than  the 
strange  profusion  of  life  that  now  meets  us  at  every  turn. 
The  microscope  has  here  revealed  worlds  of  wonders  which  a 
century  ago  were  not  suspected  to  exist.  It  is  found  that  all 
things  teem  with  life.  "These  less  than  the  least  of  all 

*  Roget's  Bridgewater  Treatise.     Vol.  i.,  p.  25. 


MICROSCOPIC   TRIBES.  125 

the  creatures "  that  are  visible  to  the  unassisted  eye,  inhabit 
the  water,  float  in  the  air,  are  found  in  the  blood  and  fluids  of 
the  body,  in  the  tartar  of  the  teeth,  in  animal  and  in  vegetable 
substances,  in  vinegar  and  in  paste,  in  fruits,  grains,  seeds  and 
flowers ;  in  the  dry  sand,  and  on  every  green  leaf. 

And  not  only  are  tribes  of  living  beings  found  in  the  blood, 
the  brain  and  the  intestines  of  larger  animals,  but  other  tribes 
have  been  discovered  to  inhabit  the  eyes  of  different  animals 
and  the  gills  of  fishes.  Quadrupeds,  birds,  reptiles  and  fishes 
have  each  their  eye-worms.  Dr.  Nordmann,  the  German 
Naturalist  already  quoted,  has  made  some  very  curious  obser- 
vations here — more  especially  his  discoveries  m  the  eyes  of 
different  species  of  the  perch.  In  a  single  eye  of  this  fish 
he  sometimes  discovered  as  many  as  360  of  these  animalcula. 
So  numerous  a  family  feed,  revel  and  rest  in  the  single  eye  of  a 
little  fish.  Other  tribes  make  their  habitations  on  the  gills 
of  fishes.  The  little  minute  speck  of  life  which  the  Doctor  dis- 
covered on  the  gills  of  the  bream  were  not  the  less  remarkable 
in  respect  to  number  and  size,  but  more  wonderful  in  relation 
to  form  and  structure.  Among  the  varieties  of  shapes,  colors 
and  structures  of  these  minim  hosts,  he  mentions  a  very  singu- 
lar one,  to  which  he  gives  the  name  of  Diplozoon,  or  double 
animal.  Unlike  the  compound  insects,  which  have  several 
mouths  protruding  from  one  stem  or  body,  giving  it  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  vegetable  growth  (another  connecting  link), 
these  double  animals,  like  the  Siamese  twins,  are  formed  of  two 
distinct  bodies,  united  in  the  middle,  so  as  to  present  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  St.  Andrew's  Cross,  each  half  of  the  animal  con- 
taining precisely  the  same  organs. 

Nor  does  the  series  of  life  in  this  singular  locality  stop  here. 


126  THE   PALACE    OF  THE   GREAT   KING. 

The  same  indefatigable  observer  has  discovered  that  "these 
little  pests,  small  as  they  are,  have  parasites  of  their  own." 
He  observed  "  little  brown  dots  or  capsules "  attached  to  the 
intestinal  canal,  which,  when  opened,  there  issued  forth  living 
animalcula,  which  not  only  presented  unique  forms  and  struc- 
tures, but  were  singularly  curious  in  their  modes  of  locomotion. 
As  already  noticed,  when  speaking  of  the  motions  of  animals, 
they,  on  being  set  at  liberty  from  the  membrane  that  contains 
them,  immediately  turn  round  on  their  axis,  then  jump  a  cer- 
tain distance  in  a  straight  line,  when  they  again  revolve  and 
again  take  a  leap. 

So  replet*  indeed  is  every  thing  with  this  animalcula 
life  as  to  have  given  rise  to  the  theory  that,  in  like  manner  as 
the  earth  and  every  inanimate  thing  is  formed  of  an  endless 
number  of  infinitely  minute  particles,  so  every  animal  organiza- 
tion is  constituted  of  living  atoms ;  so  minute  indeed  that  mil- 
lions might  graze  on  a  single  leaf  or  revel  in  a  drop  of  water. 
-  But,  as  is  known  in  reference  to  the  magnitude  of  creation 
that  no  increased  power  of  the  telescope  approaches  any  limit 
of  creation  in  that  direction,  so,  in  relation  to  the  other  extreme, 
as,  with  microscope  in  hand,  we  plunge  into  the  regions  of  in- 
visible minuteness,  no  investigations  have  indicated  any  limit 
of  creative  power  here.  As  the  astronomer,  with  every  new 
power  of  his  instrument,  finds  himself  introduced  into  new 
fields  of  ether,  all  resplendent  with  worlds,  and  sees  evidence 
that  illimitable  fields  lie  beyond  the  reach  of  every  increased 
power  of  his  telescope,  equally,  no  doubt,  the  habitations  of 
worlds  as  mighty  and  resplendent  as  those  within  the  range 
of  his  vision,  so  the  practical  naturalist  informs  us,  that  with 
every  improvement  of  his  microscope  he  is  introduced  into  new 


•  WONDEES   OF  THE  MICBOSCOPE.  127 

fields  of  life,  and  discovers  new  wonders  of  living  minuteness; 
and  still  "  those  that  defy  all  present  methods  of  assisting  the 
sight  and  consequently  remain  undetected,  may  far  exceed 
those  we  know."  And  the  same  writer  supposes  these  minim 
animals  out-number,  "  beyond  all  statement  of  numbers,"  the 
whole  aggregate  of  all  the  other  animals  that  people  the  globe — 
that  they  "  probably  enter  into  us,  circulate  in  our  blood,  nestle 
between  our  teeth,  are  everywhere  busy,"  but  they  remained 
hidden  from  all  human  observation  till  the  invention  of  the 
microscope  raised  the  veil  and  introduced  us  to  these  new 
worlds  of  wonders. 

But  we  are  not  at  present  so  much  concerned  with  either 
the  profusion  of  created  things,  or  with  the  minuteness  and 
the  exquisitively  beautiful  workmanship  of  the  Divine  hand,  as 
we  are  with  the  strangely  diversified  character  of  these  works. 
Of  this  we  seem  to  have  illustrations  more  and  more  profuse 
and  beautiful,  as  we  descend  from  the  less  to  the  more  minute. 
The  enthusiasm  of  naturalists,  as  they  enter  these  enchanting 
fields,  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  all  we  have  seen  of  variety 
in  the  larger  types  of  animal  life,  as  already  referred  to,  afford,  at 
best,  but  meagre  specimens,  compared  with  those  furnished  by 
the  teeming  millions  of  insects  and  animalcula  which  inhabit 
the  crust  of  the  earth,  or  by  the  creeping  things  of  the  ocean. 
These  present  a  variety  surpassing  all  our  powers  of  conception 
— if  regard  be  had  only  to  color,  size  and  form.  But  if  all 
the  marked  diversities  of  adaptations,  uses  of  parts,  dispositions 
and  activities  be  admitted  in  tothe  account,  the  field  is  vastly 
widened.  Astonishing  discoveries  have  been  made  among  the 
innumerable  worlds  of  animalcula  and  ephemeral  insects.  Thou- 
sands have  been  discovered  in  a  single  drop  of  water,  and  tens 


128  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

of  thousands  on  a  single  leaf.  Each  is  a  world  teeming  with 
its  own  population.  But  what  more  excites  our  admiration  is 
that  all  its  puny  tribes  are  distinguished  by  even  a  greater 
variety,  if  possible,  than  characterizes  all  other  material  things. 

An  ingenious  naturalist  gives  the  following  result  of  his  ex- 
amination of  a  single  strawberry  plant :  "  The  insects  which  I 
observed,  were  all  distinguishable  from  each  other,  by  their 
color,  their  forms  and  their  motions.  Some  of  them  shone  like 
gold,  others  were  of  the  color  of  silver  or  brass.  Some  were 
spotted,  some  striped ;  they  were  blue,  green,  brown  and  chest- 
nut. The  heads  of  some  were  round  like  a  turban ;  those  of 
others  were  drawn  out  in  the  figure  of  a  cone ;  here  it  was  dark 
as  a  tuft  of  black  velvet,  there  it  sparkled  like  a  ruby."  The 
wings  of  some,  he  says,  were  "long  and  brilliant,  like  trans- 
parent plates  of  mother-of-pearl ; "  others,  "  short  and  broad, 
resembling  net-work  of  the  gauze." 

Such  may  be  taken  as  a  specimen  of  the  variegated  inhab- 
itants of  those  diminutive  worlds,  which,  on  account  of  their 
extreme  minuteness,  elude  the  naked  vision  of  man. 

Another  ingenious  observer,  as  he  contemplates  "-the  amaz- 
ing varieties "  of  the  microscopic  world,  says  of  the  strangely 
diminutive  forms  of  life  which  pass  within  the  vision  of  his  in- 
strument :  u  One  is  a  long  and  slender  line ;  another,  an  eel 
or  a  serpent ;  some  are  circular,  eliptical  or  triangular ;  one  is  a 
thin,  flat  plate ;  another,  like  a  number  of  reticulated  seeds ; 
several  have  a  long  tail,  almost  invisible,  or  their  posterior 
part  is  terminated  by  two  robust  horns ;  one  is  like  a  funnel ; 
another  like  a  bell,  or  cannot  be  referred  to  any  object  familiar 
to  our  senses."  Other  singular  peculiarities  are  also  described. 
Some  of  these  minims  of  life  possess  the  most  wonderful  con- 


MOTIONS   OF   ANIMALS.  129 

trol  over  their  own  size  and  forms.  Some  can  change  their 
figure  at  pleasure.  They  may  extend  themselves  to  an  immod- 
erate length,  and  then  contract  to  almost  nothing.  Now  they 
are  seen  curved  like  a  leech,  then  coiled  like  a  serpent ;  now 
inflated  much  beyond  its  usual  bulk,  then  flaccid  and  almost 
vanished.  Some  are  opaque,  while  others  are  so  transparent 
as  to  be  scarcely  visible. 

And  the  motions  of  these  wonderful  tribes,  present  varie- 
ties not  the  less  interesting.  Some  are  said  to  swim  with  the 
velocity  of  an  arrow ;  others  drag  their  bodies  with  seeming 
difficulty,  and  some  seem  to  exist  in  perfect  rest.  One  is  seen 
to  revolve  on  its  centre,  or  the  exterior  part  of  its  head ;  others 
move  "by  undulations,  leaps,  oscillations  or  successive  gyra- 
tions." Indeed,  it  is  affirmed  that  there  is  no  kind  of  animal 
motion,  or  mode  of  progression  that  is  not  practised  by  ani- 
malcula. 

We  may  indulge  a  moment's  glance  at  another  of  these  in- 
visible worlds  of  beauty  and  variety — a  world  circumscribed 
within  the  limits  of  a  single  carnation,  as  laid  open  by  the 
microscope  and  described  by  the  pen  of  Sir  John  Hill.  Dis- 
tending the  lower  part  of  the  flower,  and,  under  a  full  light, 
adapting  his  microscope  to  take  in,  at  one  view,  the  whole  base 
of  the  flower,  he  discovered  "troops  of  little  insects  frisking 
with  wild  jollity  among  the  narrow  pedestals  that  supported 
its  leaves,  and  the  little  threads  that  occupied  its  centre.  The 
base  of  the  flower  had  become  a  vast  plain ;  the  slender  stems 
of  leaves  become  trunks  of  so  many  stately  cedars  ;  the  threads 
in  the  middle  seemed  columns  of  massy  structure,  supporting, 
at  their  top,  their  several  ornaments  j  and  the  narrow  spaces 
between  were  enlarged  into  walks,  parterres  and  terraces.  On 
6* 


130          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

the  polished  bottoms  of  these,  brighter  than  Parian  marble, 
walked  in  pairs,  alone,  or  in  larger  companies,  the  winged  in- 
habitants. These,  from  little  dusky  flies  (as  seen  by  the  naked 
eye)  were  raised  to  glorious,  glittering  animals,  stained  with 
living  purple,  and  with  a  glossy  gold  that  would  have  made  all 
the  labors  of  the  loom  contemptible  in  the  comparison.  "  I 
could,  at  leisure,  admire  their  limbs,  their  velvet  shoulders,  and 
their  silver  wings  ;  their  backs  vying  with  the  empyreal  in  its 
blue ;  and  their  eyes,  each  formed  of  a  thousand  others,  out- 
glittering  the  little  planes  on  a  brilliant ;  above  description, 
and  almost  too  great  for  admiration." 

Such  pictures,  to  those  not  accustomed  to  look  into  those 
worlds  of  wonder  through  the  microscope,  may  seem  overdrawn. 
We  are  assured,  however,  by  those  who  are  in  the  habit  of 
making  such  investigations,  that  the  vegetable  and  animal  world 
are  full  of  just  such  scenes.  And  as  world  after  world  of  these 
microscopic  wonders  pass  in  review  before  us,  we  know  not 
which  the  most  profoundly  to  admire,  the  power,  skill  and 
wisdom  engaged  in  the  creation,  arrangement  and  control  of 
the  numberless  and  immense  worlds  that  fill  boundless  space, 
or  the  beauty  and  exquisitely  delicate  workmanship  of  the  in- 
finitesimal tribes  that  inhabit  the  microscopic  worlds. 

We  may  institute  no  comparison  between  the  most  fin- 
ished and  delicate  works  of  art  and  the  common  works  of 
nature.  No  hand  can  paint  like  the  hand  divine — no  colors 
are  so  brilliant  and  indelible — no  texture  so  fine — no  work- 
manship so  exquisite.  As  we  descend  the  scale  into  those 
wonderful  worlds  revealed  by  the  microscope,  we  seem  im- 
pressed with  the  idea  that  the  God  of  nature  has  undertaken 
to  exhaust  his  skill  and  power  in  the  production  of  an  endless 


STRUCTUEE  OF  INSECTS.  131 

number  and  variety  of  infinitely  small  creations.  As  in  point 
of  duration  God  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting,  so  in  refer- 
ence to  power,  wisdom  and  skill  in  workmanship,  he'  works 
from  infinite  to  infinite — the  vastness  of  the  material  universe 
on  the  one  hand  stands  over  against  the  infinite  variety  and 
the  endless  profusion  and  the  infinitesimal  minuteness  of  his 
works  on  the  other. 

The  moment  we  descend  to  details  we  are,  in  this  respect, 
astonished  at  the  investigations  of  the  naturalist.  There  ap- 
pears an  exuberance  of  skill  and  workmanship  which  we  were 
not  prepared  for.  In  confirmation  of  this  we  can  scarcely 
quote  the  annals  of  natural  history  amiss.  We  may  take  the 
following :  In  the  body  of  an  insect  about  an  inch  in  length,  a 
French  naturalist  is  said  to  have  enumerated  306  plates  com- 
posing the  structure  only  of  the  outer  envelop ;  494  muscles 
for  putting  them  in  motion ;  24  pairs  of  nerves  and  48  pairs 
of  breathing  organs.  On  a  single  wing  of  a  butterfly  have 
been  found  100,000  scales.  So  thin  are  the  wings  of  many 
insects  that  50,000  placed  over  each  other  would  only  be  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  thick ;  and  yet,  thin  as  they  are,  each  is 
double.  The  house-fly's  wing  has  a  power  of  600  strokes  in 
a  second,  which  can  propel  it  35  feet,  while  the  speed  of  a 
race-horse  is  but  90  feet  a  second.  We  well  know  what  an 
exquisite  piece  of  mechanism  the  eye  is ;  and  as  two  eyes  seem 
quite  sufficient  for  all  the  necessary  purposes  of  vision,  we  are 
quite  astonished  to  meet  with  small  and  insignificant  insects 
with  thousands  of  eyes,  or  rather,  the  protuberances  called 
their  eyes  are  found  to  contain  thousands  of  lenses,  every  one 
of  which  is  capable  of  producing  a  distinct  image  of  as  many 
objects  at  the  same  time.  Why  should  the  silk- worm,  the 


132  THE  PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

beetle,  and  the  common  fly  have  their  six  or  eight  thousand 
eyes  ;  and  the  drone,  the  dragon  and  the  butterfly  more  than 
twice  as  many  ? — why  but  for  the  love  of  infinite  skill  and 
power  to  extend  itself?  As  in  the  works  of  grace,  so  in  the 
works  of  nature  there  is  a  strange  outflowing  and  overflowing 
of  the  Divine  goodness.  < 

We  are  amazed  at  the  exuberance  of  the  skill  of  workman- 
ship displayed  in  some  of  these  specks  of  life.  But  we  have 
no  need  to  dwell  on  the  minute,  nor  to  confine  our  remarks  to 
variety  in  form,  size  or  structure.  There  is  among  animals  a 
no  less  striking  variety  of  temperament,  sagacity,  activity,  pre- 
cocity and  productiveness.  How  varied  the  natural  disposi- 
tions of  animals.  Compare  the  tiger  and  the  lamb  ;  the  vul- 
ture and  the  dove  ;  the  serpent  and  the  fish.  No  two  animals 
are  tempered  alike — not  to  say  animals  of  different  species,  but 
individuals  of  the  same  species.  How  kind  and  pacific  are 
some  ;  how  restive,  fierce  and  refractory  are  others  !  But  the 
distinction  is  more  prominently  marked  in  the  creature  man — 
at  least  it  is  more  observable  in  him.  Here  no  two  are  attem- 
pered alike.  Some  seem  to  have  a  similar  disposition  in  some 
particulars,  while  in  other  respects  they  are  totally  unlike. 
They  run  parallel  to  a  certain  Doint,  whence  they  diverge  and 
perhaps  do  not  meet  again. 

Animals  differ  no  less  remarkably  in  respect  to  intelligence, 
sagacity,  ingenuity  and  skill.  From  the  lowest  grade  of  zoo- 
phytes or  vegetable  animals  to  the  highest  in  the  scale  of  in- 
telligence there  is  every  imaginable  variety.  It  will  serve  our 
purpose  quite  as  well  to  refer  only  to  some  of  the  higher  orders, 
and  those  more  familiar  to  the  common  reader. 

What  varied  skill  and  ingenuity  are  employed  by  different 


ARCHITECTURAL   SKILL    OF   ANIMALS.  133 

species  of  birds  in  the  construction  of  their  nests,  and  by  dif- 
ferent animals  in  forming  their  habitations.  No  two  species 
of  animals,  birds  or  insects  construct  their  nests  or  build  their 
habitations  of  the  same  material,  or  in  the  same  form,  or  after 
the  same  order  of  architecture.  Though  all  mechanics  of  some 
craft,  no  two  species  are  of  the  same  craft.  Some  play  the 
carpenter,  some  the  mason  or  the  woodcutter,  miner  or  com- 
mon laborer.  The  wasp  is  both  a  papermaker  and  a  mason, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  like  the  honey-bee,  an  excellent  geome- 
trician and  builder.  Thin  and  frail  as  the  paper  layer  of  the 
wasp's  nest  is,  it  is  constructed  in  a  manner  and  of  a  material 
to  make  it  water-proof. 

But  more  remarkable  still  is  the  architectural  skill  and 
power  of  some  kinds  of  ants,  especially  those  called  termites  or 
white  ants.  These  diminutive  insects  erect  habitations  which 
for  dimensions  and  internal  structure  are  quite  wonderful. 
They  show  themselves  well  skilled  in  masonry — understand 
the  construction  of  the  arch,  and  know  how  to  form  a  cement 
and  mortar  which  is  perfectly  secure  against  all  injury  by 
water. 

The  ant-hill  is  a  pyramid  often  ten  or  twelve  feet  high,  the 
external  covering  consisting  of  a  dome,  "  with  a  smooth  sur- 
face of  rich  clay,  excessively  hard  and  well  built."  The  inte- 
rior of  the  building,  -which  is  fitted  up  with  great  labor  and 
skill,  is  divided  "  with  wonderful  artifice  and  regularity  into  a 
vast  number  of  apartments" — labyrinths,  galleries  and  subter- 
raneous passages.  In  the  centre  and  under  the  grand  dome 
are  the  royal  apartments,  and  about  these  nurseries,  maga- 
zines for  provisions,  and  various  chambers  for  the  accommoda- 
tions of  their  gentry,  soldiers,  and  different  sorts  of  laborers. 


134          THE  PALACE  OP  THE  GREAT  KING. 

Some  one  has  pleasantly  illustrated  the  various  skill  and 
aptitudes  of  different  animals  by  characterizing  their  trades 
and  mechanical  operations  somewhat  as  follows  : 

"  Beasts,  birds  and  insects  are  good  mechanics,  skilled  in 
business  and  building  operations ;  and  what  they  do  is  done 
with  despatch  and  neatness.  The  caterpillar  is  a  silk-spinner, 
far  excelling  any  other  in  his  line  of  business.  Indeed,  we 
could  by  no  skill  or  art  of  ours  supply  the  place  of  this  won- 
derfully-endowed creature.  The  honey-bee  is  a  professor  of 
geometry.  He  constructs  his  cell  so  scientifically  that  the  least 
possible  amount  of  material  is  formed  into  the  largest  spaces 
with  the  least  waste  of  room.  Not  all  the  mathematicians  of 
Cambridge  could  improve  the  construction  of  his  cells.  Nor 
can  the  best  hermetical  sealers  preserve  provisions  so  well. 

"  The  mole  tunnels  like  a  skilful  engineer.  The  nautilus 
is  a  navigator,  hoisting  or  taking  in  sail  as  he  goes,  or  casting 
anchor  at  pleasure.  The  glow-worm  is  a  lamplighter.  The 
beaver  is  a  wood-cutter,  or  builder,  and  a  mason  ;  and  a  good 
workman  at  all  these  trades.  He  fells  trees  with  his  teeth, 
and,  having  built  his  house  skilfully,  plasters  it  with  his  tail- 
trowel.  The  swallow  is  a  fly-catcher — singing  birds  are  ama- 
teur musicians,  excelling  in  harmony ;  and  the  otter  and  heron 
are  fishermen,  though  they  use  neither  line  nor  net.  The 
otter  we  seldom  see,  for  he  works  his  traps  mostly  under  the 
water ;  but  the  heron  may  be  often  seen  standing  with  his 
long,  thin  legs  in  the  shallow  part  of  the  stream,  suddenly 
plunging  his  long  bill  below  the  surface  and  bringing  up  a 
fish.  The  marmot  is  a  civil  engineer.  He  does  not  only 
build  houses,  but  constructs  aqueducts  and  drains  to  keep 
them  dry.  The  ant  maintains  a  regular  standing  army. 


SAGACITY   OF   DIFFEKENT   CLASSES.  135 

Wasps  are  paper  manufacturers.  Caterpillars  are  silk-spin- 
ners. The  squirrel  is  a  ferryman.  With  a  chip  or  piece  of 
bark  for  a  boat,  and  his  tail  for  a  sail,  he  crosses  a  stream. 
Dogs,  wolves,  jackals  and  many  others,  are  hunters.  The 
black  bear  and  heron  are  fishermen.  The  ants  are  day- 
laborers.  The  monkey  is  a  rope-dancer. 

"  The  fox  is  a  dealer  in  poultry,  and  sometimes  a  whole- 
sale dealer ;  as  the  farmers  and  farmers'  wives  know  to  their 
cost.  Not  satisfied  with  chickens  and  ducklings,  he  must 
needs  push  on  his  trade  among  the  full  grown  cocks  and  hens  ; 
and  many  a  good  fat  goose  is  carried  to  his  meat-cellar. 

'  A  wily  trader  in  his  way 
Is  Reynard,  both  by  night  and  day.' " 

Other  classes  of  animals  show  much  sagacity  in  the  pre- 
cautions they  use  against  danger.  Among  these  are  the 
marmot,  the  monkey  of  Brazil,  and  the  wild  horse.  When 
grazing,  or  sleeping,  or  engaged  in  pastimes,  they  are  known  to 
place  a  sentinel  to  watch  and  give  alarm  against  approaching 
danger.  When  the  marmot  sentinel  perceives  a  man,  an 
eagle,  a  dog,  or  any  other  foe  near,  he  alarms  his  companions 
by  a  loud  whistle,  and  is  himself  the  last  that  enters  the  hole. 
Brazil  monkeys  are  said  quietly  to  sleep  on  the  trees  after 
having  stationed  one  of  their  number  as  a  sentinel  to  warn 
them  of  the  approach  of  the  tiger,  or  other  rapacious  animal ; 
and  if  this  sentinel  is  found  sleeping,  his  companions  in- 
stantly tear  him  in  pieces  for  his  neglect  of  duty.  And  the 
same  precautions  are  taken  by  troops  of  wild  horses  when 
sleeping.  One  of  their  number  remains  awake,  and  gives 
notice  of  any  approaching  danger. 


136  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

We  must  be  content  with,  a  single  instance  of  the  many  we 
would  like  to  quote,  of  the  peculiar  sagacity  used  by  some 
classes  of  animals  to  entrap  their  prey.  In  Kamtschatka,  an 
animal  called  the  glotton  employs  a  singular  stratagem  for 
killing  the  fallow-deer.  He  climbs  up  a  tree,  carrying  with 
him  a  quantity  of  that  species  of  moss  of  which  the  deer  are 
very  fond.  When  a  deer  approaches  near  the  tree,  the  glotton 
throws  down  the  moss.  If  the  deer  stops  to  eat  the  moss  the 
glotton  instantly  darts  down  upon  his  back,  and  after  fixing 
himself  firmly  between  the  horns,  tears  out  its  eyes,  which  so 
torments  the  animal,  that,  either  to  put  an  end  to  its  torment 
or  to  get  rid  of  its  cruel  enemy,  it  strikes  its  head  against  the 
trees  till  it  falls  down  dead.  The  glottons  on  the  river  Lena 
sometimes  kill  horses  in  the  same  manner.* 

The  honey-bee  is  in  many  respects  particularly  a  clever 
little  animal.  Both  her  social  and  civil  relations  abundantly 
imply  this.  Bees  preserve  a  very  perfect  community,  and  main- 
tain a  no  less  remarkable  form  of  government.  And  the  skill 
with  which  they  conduct  their  labors  is  proverbial.  But  nothing 
is  more  remarkable  than  the  sagacity  they  show  in  discerning 
any  approaching  change  of  the  weather.  "  More  surely  than 
the  instruments  of  science"  they  descry  the  shower  at  hand, 
and  hasten  to  the  shelter  of  their  home. 

No  animal,  perhaps,  has  been  awarded  more  credit  for 
sagacity  than  the  dog.  He  is  capable  of  almost  any  training, 
and  sometimes  seems  to  dispute  the  province  of  rationality 
with  man.  To  the  many  clever  feats  which  are  constantly 
detailed  of  this  sagacious  animal,  the  following,  which  recently 

*  SmeUie's  Philosophy  of  Natural  History,  p.  239. 


QUANTITY   OF   LIFE.  137 

came  to  my  notice,  may  be  added :  Mr.  Meriam,  the  celebrated 
meteorologist  of  Brooklyn,  recently  lost  a  valuable  dog  by 
death  which  he  had  taught  to  watch  the  striking  of  the  clock 
at  night,  and  wake  him  every  hour  for  the  purpose  of  making 
his  hourly  registrations  of  the  barometer  and  thermometer. 

Again,  we  discover  in  the  quantity  of  life  or  activity  of 
different  species  of  animals  or  animals  of  the  same  species, 
another  pleasant  variety.  The  lowest  animal  matter  is  scarcely 
distinguishable  from  a  vegetable  mass.  And  after  ascending 
several  grades  you  still  meet  with  animals  of  perfect  organiza- 
tion, yet  with  scarcely  vital  energy  or  the  principle  of  life 
enough  to  enable  them  to  move  from  place  to  place.  \Yith 
little  nerve  or  muscle,  strength  or  activity,  and  capable  of  very 
little  pleasure  or  pain,  they  have  scarcely  more  than  a  vege- 
table existence ;  while  sporting  about  them  in  all  the  smiling 
exuberance  of  vitality,  are  other  tribes  of  animals,  which  live 
more  in  twenty-four  hours  than  their  sluggish,  torpid  neighbors 
do  in  a  month.  They  use  so  much  more  nerve  and  muscle — 
enjoy  or  suffer  so  much  more — burn  in  the  lamp  of  life  so 
much  more  of  the  oil  of  vitality.  How  much  more  of  life  is 
there  about  a  tiger  than  a  turtle — a  humining-bird  than  a  snail1? 
M.  Delisle  tells  us  that  he  observed  a  fly  not  larger  than  a 
grain  of  sand,  which  ran  three  inches  in  half  a  second,  and  in 
that  space  made  the  enormous  number  of  540  steps.  If  a  man 
were  able  to  walk  as  fast  in  proportion  to  his  size — i.  e.,  able 
to  take  as  many  steps  of  two  feet  long  in  the  same  time,  he 
would  in  the  course  of  a  minute  run  more  than  twenty  miles, 
leaving  express  railroad  engines  far  in  his  rear.  The  locust, 
the  grasshopper  and  the  flea  can  leap  200  times  their  length ; 
the  frog  hops  250  times  his  length.  Some  spiders  can  leap 


138          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

upon  their  prey  two  feet.  Were  a  man  of  six  feet  in  length  to 
leap  in  proportion  to  the  grasshopper,  he  might  be  seen  strid- 
ing over  the  earth  at  the  rate  of  400  yards  at  a  stride. 

Similar  remarks  apply  to  individuals  of  the  same  grade  or 
species.  What  different  degree  of  vital  energy  in  two  animals 
of  the  same  class.  One  is  so  sluggish  as  to  feel  it  a  task  to 
gather  his  own  food ;  the  other  abounds  in  vitality,  and  leaps 
about  spontaneously  for  no  other  reason  than  the  pleasure  of 
distending  and  contracting  his  own  muscles. 

Man,  however,  supplies  the  happiest  illustration  of  this 
sort,  for  he  is  a  mental  and  moral,  as  well  as  a  physical  being. 
Some  persons  have  so  little  life  about  them  as  to  be  scarcely 
capable  of  self-preservation.  When  they  have  put  forth  the 
utmost  stretch  of  their  vitality,  they  can  with  difficulty  perform 
acts  which  rank  them  among  the  living.  This  is  one  extreme, 
between  which  and  the  other  there  are  many  gradations  or 
varieties,  some  putting  forth  more  activity,  accomplishing 
more  labor — physical,  mental  or  moral — in  one  day  than 
others  do  in  six.  The  mental  energy  of  some  men  and  the 
bodily  vigor  of  others  is  prodigious,  while  the  current  of  the 
vital  energy  runs  so  sluggishly  in  others  that  nothing  moves 
them  but  compulsion,  and  this  only  while  the  coercive  force  is 
operative.  Perhaps  in  nothing  do  men  differ  more  than  in  the 
quantity  of  life  which  they  possess. 

The  diversified  condition  of  animal  life,  in  its  infancy,  is 
worthy  of  remark.  In  some  instances,  as  in  the  young  of  the 
robin,  the  sparrow  or  the  human  infant,  there  is  scarcely  more 
than  life  in  the  abstract,  vigor,  activity  and  intelligence  being 
scarcely  at  all  developed,  and  these  are  not  all  capable  of  self- 
preservation.  Of  this  extreme,  naturalists  furnish  more  striking 


PRODUCTIVENESS    OF   ANIMALS.  139 

illustrations  that  I  have  yet  adduced.  The  American  opossum 
is  said  often  to  produce  sixteen  young  ones  in  one  litter,  which, 
when  first  born,  do  not  weigh  more  than  a  grain  each.  Blind 
and  almost  shapeless,  and  perfectly  helpless,  they  are  now 
snugly  stored  away  by  the  mother  in  a  sort  of  pouch  provided 
by  nature  for  the  purpose,  where  they  are  nourished  till  they 
attain  the  size  of  a  mouse,  which  does  not  take  place  till  they 
are  fifty  days  old,  when  they  begin  to  see.  And  it  is  some 
time  after  this  before  they  wholly  leave  the  pouch.  The  kan- 
garoo, and  the  houla  of  New  Holland,  nourish  their  young  in 
the  same  way. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  meet  the  young  partridge,  the  off- 
spring of  the  domestic  fowl,  and  the  foal  of  the  horse,  with  their 
instincts  and  activities  almost  perfectly  developed  at  a  day  old. 
The  young  partridge  will  not  wait  to  divest  itself  of  the  incum- 
bent shell  before  it  seeks  safety  by  flight,  at  the  approach  of 
danger. 

Again,  there  is  a  striking  difference  in  the  productiveness, 
and  in  the  length  of  life  of  different  species  of  animals.  In- 
deed, productiveness  is  somewhat  in  proportion  to  length  of 
life  and  to  size.  The  elephant  may  live  2,  3,  and  400  years. 
Other  tribes  of  animals  are  ephemeral — others  flit  through  life 
in  one  hour — perhaps  in  a  few  moments. 

In  six  years  a  pair  of  elephants  might  double  their  num- 
ber— a  pair  of  sheep  become  64 — and  a  pair  of  pigs  119,  160. 
The  power  of  production  in  some  of  the  smaller  animals, 
especially  of  the  finny  tribe,  verges  on  the  incredulous.  Natu- 
ralists tell  us  of  the  tench,  the  codfish,  the  shad,  the  house- 
fly, producing  their  hundred  thousands — some,  their  millions 
yearly. 


140  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

bo  prodigiously  prolific  are  herring,  pilchard  and  some 
other  kinds  of  fish,  that  they  are  taken  by  the  millions  of  mil- 
lions annually,  without  the  least  sensible  diminution  of  the 
supply.  Twenty  millions  have  been  known  to  be  taken  at  a 
single  fishing.  At  a  fishing-ground  in  Norway  (Gottenburg) 
700,000,000  have  been  taken  in  a  single  year.  And  this  is 
but  an  item  in  the  amount  taken  by  the  English,  Dutch  and 
other  European  nations. 

But  why  such  endless  variety  in  animal  life — why  such  ex- 
haustless  abundance  ?  It  is  the  provision  which  a  benevolent 
Father  has  made  for  his  creatures — especially  for  his  creature 
man.  What  varied  and  superabundant  provision  for  his  food, 
his  clothing,  and  for  every  possible  want!  But  man  would 
fail  to  realize  the  richness  and  fulness  of  these  provisions,  if 
his  own  skill  and  power,  together  with  the  instincts  of  certain 
animals,  were  not  engaged  to  bring  the  various  bounties  of 
Providence  to  every  man's  door.  But  for  commerce  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  migrations  of  certain  animals  and  fishes  on  the 
other,  our  supplies  would  still  be  comparatively  limited.  As 
an  example  of  the  latter,  take  the  herring,  the  shad  and  vari- 
ous kinds  of  fishes,  to  say  nothing  of  migrating  birds  and 
beasts,  which,  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  feel  an  irrepressi- 
ble prompting  to  take  up  their  line  of  march  and  to  pass  over 
large  portions  of  country,  everywhere  made  a  prey,  to  minister 
to  the  wants  of  man  and  beast. 

Our  most  abundant  and  valuable  fish  are  the  cod,  the 
mackerel,  the  herring,  the  shad  and  haddock.  These  are 
all  migratory  fish.  Impelled  by  a  singular  instinct,  they  are 
made  to  move  forward  in  countless  numbers,  visiting  the 
shores  of  various  islands  and  continents,  and  offering  them- 


MIGRATIONS   AND   THEIR   USB.  141 

selves,  as  it  were,  in  vast  holocausts  to  the  appetite  of  man. 
By  means  of  this  singular  providential  arrangement,  immense 
quantities  of  food,  ^delightfully  variegating  our  bill  of  fare,  are, 
at  different  seasons  of  the  year,  poured  into  our  markets  and 
introduced  to  our  tables,  which  ordinary  commerce  could  never 
bring.  One  of  these  vast  migrating  bodies  after  another  pass 
along  our  coasts  or  ascend  our  rivers,  linger  for  days,  for  weeks, 
perhaps,  till  they  have  regaled  us  with  a  pleasant  variety,  if 
not  satiated  our  appetites ;  then  they  move  on  unconsciously 
but  liberally,  to  serve  the  equally  rapacious  appetites  of  some 
other  shore. 

The  migrating  shoals  of  herring  "consist  of  millions  of 
myriads,  and  are  many  leagues  in  width,  many  fathoms  in 
thickness,  and  so  dense  that  the  fishes  touch  each  other." 

How  truly  wonderful  are  these  great  migratory  expeditions, 
when  contemplated  simply  as  a  providential  device  for  dis- 
tributing the  bounties  of  Heaven  to  the  different  portions  of 
his  great  family,  not  only  supplying  their  wants,  but  spread- 
ing their  tables  with  new  and  choice  varieties. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

MAN— His  Physical  Varieties—External  Form— Color  of  Skin— Mechanism— The  eye 
—Organs  for  Breathing;  Digestion,  Secretion;  Nerves,  Blood-vessels— Voico— 
Upright  Position— The  Wrist  and  Hand— Jenny  Lind's  Voice. 

WE  are  now  brought  to  a  portion  of  our  illustration  which  is 
both  more  familiar,  and  of  higher  interest.  Man  is  not  an 
exception  to  the  universal  variety  which  pervades  all  nature 
besides.  While  we  met  no  lack  of  diversified  workmanship 
or  varied  development  in  the  lower  grades  of  animal  life,  we 
may  be  sure  of  meeting  more  numerous  and  interesting  va- 
rieties in  the  species,  man.  We  have  not  found  our  interest 
decrease  as  we  have  descended  from  the  larger  and  better 
known  specimens  of  creative  power  and  skill,  t6  the  most  mi- 
nute and  the  less  known.  The  great  monarch  of  the  deep, 
whose  play-ground  is  the  ocean,  is  not  more  perfectly  formed 
than,  the  animalcule  whose  ocean  is  a  drop  of  water.  And  the 
huge  elephant  does  not  exhibit  a  mechanism  more  highly 
wrought  and  admirable  than  the  little  tenant  that  sports  un- 
seen in  the  tiny  flower. 

As  we  pass  into  the  domains  of  man  we  shall  meet  with 
illustrations  yet  more  to  be  admired.  For,  of  all  animals,  man 
is  the  most  extraordinary,  and  furnishes  the  happiest  illustra- 
tions of  our  theme. 

In  proportion  as  the  endowments  of  man  exceed  those  of 


MAN  AS   A   PHYSICAL   BEING.  143 

any  other  animal,  and  his  relations  are  more  extensive,  and  his 
duties  more  varied,  and  his  moral  wants  and  destinies  of  higher 
order,  and  as  his  needful  training  for  his  future  state  of  being, 
implies  exercises  on  his  part  and  dispensations  on  the  part  of 
Providence  very  different  from  any  thing  known  among  the 
inferior  races,  in  the  same  proportion  we  shall  find  man's  his- 
tory to  be  vastly  more  diversified  in  all  its  developments. 

Man  has  not  only  a  physical  nature,  more  curious  and 
complicated  and  variegated  than  any  other  animal,  but  he  has 
an  intellectual  and  a  moral  nature,  which  presents  varieties  of 
structure  and  endowments  yet  more  interesting. 

We  shall  take  occasion  to  make  each  of  these  aspects  of 
humanity  topics  of  illustration.  The  first  and  most  obvious 
view  we  can  take  is  to  consider  man  as  a  physical  being.  The 
most  superficial  glance  is  enough  to  indicate  the  field  of  illus- 
tration here  open  before  us.  What  disparity  in  stature,  in 
muscular  development  and  in  bodily  organization.  What 
variety  in  color,  in  tones  of  voice,  in  the  contour  of  the  face 
and  the  expression  of  the  countenance :  and  how  varied  the 
general  appearance,  the  gait  and  movements. 

I  spoke  of  color :  the  hue  of  the  skin  varies  very  nearly 
according  to  position  on  the  globe;  climate,  elevation,  soil, 
winds,  temperature  and  exposure  to  heat,  (natural  or  artificial,) 
food,  habits,  employments,  have  great  influence  in  determining 
the  color  of  the  skin.  Natural  causes,  of  themselves,  if  given 
a  sufficient  time  to  act,  seem  quite  adequate  to  produce  the 
difference  which  exists.  Widely  as  the  African  differs  in  his 
character  from  the  European,  we  can  conceive,  from  what  we 
know,  of  similar  changes  produced  in  other  races  of  men, 
when  subjected  to  similar  influences,  during  comparatively 


144  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

short  periods  of  time ;  of  differences  quite  as  striking  as  we 
meet  here.  Portuguese  and  Jews  are  found  on  the  Malabar 
coast  of  India  quite  as  black  as  the  native  Hindoos,  though 
the  former  have  been  residents  there  scarcely  more  than  three 
centuries.  They  have  neither  the  thick  lips,  nor  the  crisped 
hair,  nor  the  facial  contour  of  the  negro ;  yet  these  peculi- 
arities of  the  negro,  did  the  field  admit  of  the  needful  investi- 
gation, would  probably  be  found  to  be  no  more  than  legitimate 
effects  of  peculiarities  of  an  African  climate,  soil,  temperature 
and  productions. 

How  unlike  in  a  thousand  respects  are  the  different  races 
of  man !  The  Caucasian  from  the  Malay  or  Chinese — the 
African  from  the  European !  Place  by  the  side  of  the  giant 
Patagonian  the  dwarf  of  Terra  del  Fuego,  or  the  fair  Briton  by 
the  side  of  the  crisp-haired  and  thick-lipped  African.  But  we 
shall  find  our  subject  amply  illustrated  if  we  confine  ourselves 
to  the  same  race.  We  can  scarcely  select  examples  amiss. 

We  will  first  look  for  a  moment  at  the  framework — the 
machine  itself — of  the  wonderful  structure  of  the  human  body. 
In  many  of  its  leading  features  it  does  not  essentially  differ 
from  the  organization  of  other  species  of  animals.  Like  them 
it  has  flesh,  bones  and  joints,  and  systems  of  nerves  and  blood- 
vessels. There  is  in  all  the  properly-formed  animals  the  most 
ingenious  specimens  of  machinery ;  bones  have  their  joints  and 
hinges ;  blood-vessels  their  valves ;  the  heart  its  forcing  pump ; 
the  eyes  their  pulleys.  It  cannot  but  excite  our  amazement 
that  a  framework  of  so  small  dimensions  as  that  of  the  human 
body  should  contain  so  much  machinery ;  that  so  many  dif- 
ferent sorts  of  apparatus  should,  in  so  small  a  compass,  be  able 
to  produce  so  many  different  ends.  We  not  only  meet  with 


THE   FBAMEWORK    OF   MAN.  145 

hinges,  joints,  valves,  the  forcing  pump  and  the  pulley,  but  in 
the  same  frame  we  discover  a  most  ingeniously  contrived  and 
constructed  system  of  blood-vessels,  and  another  system  of 
nerves,  and  a  third  of  secretive  organs,  all  in  the  same  body ; 
then  a  complete  and  ingeniously  contrived  digestive  and  nu- 
tritive apparatus;  then  a  no  less  wonderful  apparatus  for 
respiration ;  and  finally,  the  yet  more  mysterious  and  delicate 
organs  and  capabilities  of  seeing,  tasting,  smelling,  touching 
and  feeling ;  all  of  which  systems  presuppose  different  sets  of 
muscles,  nerves,  and  other  appliances  more  delicate  and  skil- 
ful than  we  can  possibly  conceive. 

"  How  complicate,  how  wonderful  is  man  !" 

And  what  in  these  respects  is  true  of  man,  is  found  to  be 
true  of  an  insect  a  thousand  times  less  than  man. 

We  cannot  too  profoundly  admire  these  wise  arrangements 
of  our  beneficent  Creator.  A  mere  glance  at  a  few  well 
known  anatomical  facts  will  serve  further  to  illustrate  the 
varied  skill,  the  diversified  workmanship,  and  the  profuse 
benevolence  which  appear  in  the  mechanism  of  the  human 
frame.  The  support  of  this  framework  consists  of  245  bones 
of  various  forms  and  uses,  and  all  adapted  to  their  respective 
purposes.  Each  bone  has  not  less  than  forty  distinct  scopes  or 
intentions.  Variously  attached  to  these  bones  are  446  muscles, 
by  which  the  numberless  motions  of  the  body  are  produced ; 
the  same  muscle,  by  means  of  its  several  intentions,  producing 
as  many  different  motions;  and  each  standing  ready  every 
moment  to  receive  the  mandates  of  the  will  and  to  execute  its 
appropriate  function.  "  Every  breath  we  draw,  whether  we  be 
in  motion  or  at  rest,  asleep  or  awake,  a  hundred  muscles,  at 
7 


146  THE  PALACE    OF   THE   GKEAT  KING. 

least,  are  in  constant  action.  In  the  act  of  breathing  we  re- 
spire at  least  twenty  times  every  minute;  the  heart  exerts  its 
muscular  force  in  propelling  the  blood  into  the  arteries  sixty 
times  every  minute ;  the  stomach  and  abdominal  muscles  are 
every  moment  in  action  ;  and  the  curious  little  bones  of  the 
ear  are  ever  ready  to  convey  sensations  of  the  softest  whisper 
to  the  brain.  So  that,  without  a  hyperbole,  or  the  least  ex- 
travagance of  expression,  it  may  truly  and  literally  be  said, 
that  we  enjoy  a  thousand  blessings  every  minute,  and  conse- 
quently sixty  thousand  every  hour,  and  one  million  four  hun- 
dred and  forty  thousand  every  day."* 

Contemplated,  simply  as  a  complicated  and  delicate  piece 
of  machinery,  the  corporeal  part  of  man  is  a  matter  of  ceaseless 
wonder.  The  contrivance  of  the  whole ;  the  forethought  and 
calculations  needful  to  the  construction  of  such  a  machine ; 
the  multiplicity  and  variety  of  the  parts  ;  all  made  so  beauti- 
fully to  fit  and  harmonize  as  to  subserve  purposes  equally 
numerous  and  varied ;  and  the  exceeding  delicacy  of  some  of 
the  parts  exhibiting  a  skill  and  niceness  of  finish  which  as  far 
transcends  all  human  skill  as  the  infinite  is  removed  from  the 
finite ;  these  are  some  of  the  wonders  which  appear  in  man's 
earthly  tabernacle. 

What  we  are  accustomed  to  call  the  human  system  is  a 
series  of  distinct  systems,  each  one  perfect  and  independent  in 
itself,  yet  acting  in  such  perfect  harmony  with  every  other  as 
to  seem  but  a  unit.  At  the  same  instant  we  find  ourselves, 
almost  without  an  effort,  exercising  all  the  complicated  and 
varied  organs  needful  to  produce  sight,  hearing,  smelling,  the 

*  Dick's  Philosophy  of  Religion,  p.  43,  Am.  edition. 


THE   STRUCTURE   OF   THE   EYE.  147 

sensations  of  taste  and  touch,  breathing,  and  I  know  not  how 
many  more  interesting  and  curious  functions.  And  so  skil- 
fully contrived  and  collocated  are  the  multiplicity  of  bones, 
muscles,  nerves,  tendons  and  membranes  requisite  to  the  per- 
formance of  these  functions,  that  they  are  constantly  performed, 
and  many,  and  sometimes  all  of  them  at  the  instant,  without 
the  slightest  confusion ;  and  the  whole  may  pass  as  the 
most  commonplace  occurrence,  without  a  thought,  or  even  con- 
sciousness on  our  part.  But  the  moment  attention  is  directed 
to  the  apparatus  and  the  modus  operandi,  the  means  and  the 
manner  of  either  of  these  very  common  operations,  we  are  not 
a  little  amazed  at  the  ingenuity  and  benevolence  therein  dis- 
played. 

Before  the  image  of  a  simple  object  can  be  painted  on  the 
retina  of  the  eye  and  the  object  be  seen,  what  a  singular  piece 
of  machinery  has  to  be  constructed,  and  then  by  how  many  in- 
genious contrivances  it  is  made  to  perform  its  office. 

The  eye  has  been  justly  esteemed  the  master-piece  of  me- 
chanical skill.  It  is  a  little  ball  lying  easily  in  its  soft,  oily 
bed,  and  safely  esconced  in  its  bony  cavity,  so  supported  by 
muscles  as  readily  to  retain  its  position,  yet  to  turn  in  every 
direction.  It  ifc  composed  of  different  coats,  humors,  and 
lenses,  and  supplied  with  an  endless  number  of  minute  nerves, 
veins  and  arteries,  lymphatics,  glands  and  other  delicate  con- 
trivances— all  so  formed  and  adjusted'  as  to  admit,  through  a 
small  aperture  called  the  pupil,  the  countless  millions  of  rays 
of  light  which  proceed  from  the  object  viewed.  So  perfect  is 
this  little  piece  of  machinery,  that  the  rays  of  light  from  every 
point  of  every  object  in  a  landscape,  miles  in  extent,  enter  the 
pupil  of  the  eye  all  at  precisely  the  same  instant — are  re- 


148          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

fr acted  by  the  humors — converge  on  the  retina  (which  is  but 
an  expansion  of  the  optic  nerve)  where  the  image  is  formed, 
and  all  at  the '  selfsame  instant  a  picture  of  the  object  thus  is 
conveyed  to  the  brain  ;  that  is,  an  act  of  seeing  is  performed. 

And  so  perfect  is  the  machinery  that  the  eye  passes  from 
one  object  to  another — from  one  broad  landscape  to  another, 
and  instantaneously  and  without  the  least  perceptible  effort — 
except  simply  moving  the  eye — excludes  the  existing  image  on 
the  retina  and  the  millions  of  rays  which  form  it  and  admit  as 
many  more  from  the  new  series  of  objects,  and  by  the  same 
interesting  process,  paints  a  new  picture. 

But  the  most  extraordinary  part  of  the  whole,  is  the  me- 
chanical arrangement — so  subtle  indeed  as  to  elude  the  sight 
of  the  keenest  research — by  which  the  eye  can  instantly  change 
from  the  sight  of  a  distant  object  to  that  of  one  near.  In  other 
words,  how  the  eye  instantly  adjusts  itself  to  act  as  a  telescope, 
or  as  a  microscope.  This  is  probably  effected  by  some  exqui- 
sitely delicate  machinery,  which  renders  more  or  less  convex  the 
cornea  of  the  eye,  as  a  near  or  remote  object  is  to  be  viewed. 
Yet  the  moment  we  attempt  to  gain  a  conception  of  the  appa- 
ratus by  which  such  an  optical  phenomenon  can  be  produced, 
we  find  ourselves  at  our  wit's  end. 

"Wonderful  as  is  the  act,  and  as  complicated  and  exquisitely 
nice  as  is  the  machinery  which  produces  vision,  this  is  but  one 
of  the  many  mechanical  processes  which  are  constantly,  and  at 
the  same  instant,  going  on  in  the  human  frame.  The  exer- 
cise of  the  other  four  senses,  the  act  of  breathing,  of  digestion, 
of  nutrition,  the  process  of  secretion,  the  circulation  of  the 
blood,  and  the  mysterious  workings  of  the  nervous  energy,  all 
have  a  distinct  series  of  apparatus,-  and  their  independent  ope- 


WHENCE   MAN'S   FEE-EMINENCE?  149 

rations.  And  the  greater  portion  of  the  machinery  by  which 
each  of  these  operations  are  carried  on,  is  too  minute  and  sub- 
tle to  come  within  the  cognizance  of  the  acutest  human  skill. 
We  can  form  no  adequate  conception  of  the  profuse  and  varied 
workmanship  involved. 

And  not  only  so,  but  there  are  other  provisions  and  adap- 
tations equally  wonderful,  before  one  of  these  results  can  be 
realized.  An  ear,  no  matter  how  curiously  wrought,  not  adapt- 
ed to  catch  the  sound  from  the  vibrations  of  the  external  air, 
or  an  apparatus  for  breathing  not  fitted  to  inhale  and  receive 
the  same  atmosphere ;  or  an  eye  not  adapted  to  the  light,  or 
the  delicate  organs  of  smell  without  the  corresponding  odor, 
would  be  of  no  account.  What  varied  wisdom  and  skill  were 
engaged  in  all  those  external  contrivances,  adaptations  and 
provisions  necessary  to  secure  results  so  common  as  to  seem  to 
us  but  our  own  spontaneous  acts. 

But  the  design  of  this  chapter  was  rather  to  treat  of  varie- 
ties of  a  more  obvious  character,  illustrating  not  the  less  strik- 
ingly the  manifold  wisdom  of  the  Creator. 

In  three  particulars  man  differs  in  his  structure  from  all 
other  animals.  These  are  his  upright  position,  the  organs  of 
speech,  and  the  peculiar  structure  of  the  wrist  and  hand:  and 
these  are  the  three  things  which  give  man  the  pre-eminence, 
and  dominion  over  the  brute  creation,  and  give  him  control 
over  the  mineral  and  vegetable  kingdoms. 

Nearly  all  animals  have  the  power  to  emit  sounds  as  ex- 
pressive of  internal  emotions,  if  not  of  thoughts ;  and  this 
faculty  is  exercised  by  organs  strikingly  analogous  to  those  by 
which  speech  is  produced  by  man.  It  might  puzzle  the 
anatomist  to  discover,  by  any  examination  he  is  able  to  make, 


150  THE   PALACE    OP   THE   GREAT   KING. 

why  the  cat,  the  dog  or  the  horse  may  not  articulate  as  well 
as  man.  He  detects  no  organ  wanting,  yet  the  brute  cannot 
articulate. 

Speech,  whether  it  be  of  man,  or  its  imitation  by  the  brute, 
is  produced  by  a  wind-instrument  called  the  trachea  or  wind- 
pipe, in  connection  with  the  act  of  respiration.  It  is  a  beauti- 
ful Eolian  harp :  its  exquisitely  delicate  machinery  is  so  ad- 
justed in  the  aperture  through  which  passes  the  vital  breath, 
that  it  emits  sounds  more  varied,  more  harmonious,  and  of  a 
more  living  significancy  than  the  most  perfect  human  instru- 
ment. It  discourses  sweet  music,  or  speaks  in  tones  of  joy  or 
sorrow ;  in  accents  of  manly  eloquence,  or  scathing  satire,  or 
honeyed  persuasion,  or  burning  rebuke. 

So  delicately  wrought  and  so  readily  modulated  is  this 
wonderful  piece  of  mechanism,  that  it  is  fitted  to  express  not 
only  the  greatest  variety  of  sounds,  but  the  greatest  variety  of 
thoughts  and  emotions ;  and  so  self-adjusting  is  some  of  the 
exceedingly  delicate  machinery  attached  to  it,  that  it  can  al- 
most instantaneously  pass  from  the  solemn  to  the  gay — from 
anger  to  hilarity — it  can  express  every  imaginable  shade  of  like 
or  dislike,  of  pleasure  or  pain,  of  love  or  hate.  Compared  with 
this,  what  is  the  most  perfect  specimen  of  human  skill  ?  Man 
constructs  an  instrument,  which,  by  means  of  a  great  variety 
of  stops,  keys,  screws  and  various  other  ingenious  appliances, 
produces  a  great  variety  of  sounds,  notes,  high  and  low,  gay 
and  plaintive.  But  how  inferior  this  to  the^production  of  the 
Divine  Hand,  which  is  so  formed  as  instantly,  by  a  self-adjust- 
ment, to  produce  such  a  variety  of  sounds. 

The  entire  machinery  employed  to  produce  articulate 
sounds  is  very  various  and  complicated.  The  tongue,  the  lips, 


MAN'S    ORGANS    OF   SPEECH.  151 

the  jaws  and  teeth,  the  palate,  the  nose  and  throat,  together 
with  a  great  variety  of  muscles,  bones,  nerves,  blood-vessels 
and  secretions,  and  some  of  them  more  exquisitely  delicate  than 
it  is  possible  for  us  to  conceive,  all  lend  their  aid  and  beauti- 
fully blend  their  actions  to  produce  the  wonderful  phenome- 
non. The  difference  in  this  respect  between  man  and  many 
kinds  of  animals,  seems  to  be  not  that  animals  are  destitute  of 
organs  of  speech — for  some  of  them  do  speak — but  that  man 
possesses  these  organs  in  greater  perfection.  There  is,  in  the 
one  case,  a  finish  in  the  workmanship,  a  perfection  of  skill, 
which  is  wanting  in  the  other.  The  one  is  a  musical  in- 
strument with  every  key,  screw,  chord  and  string  exquisitely 
formed  and  combined  by  a  master's  skill,  and  which,  like  a 
thing  of  life,  utters  the  language  of  the  soul ;  the  other  is  an 
instrument  of  the  same  form  and  parts,  yet  of  coarser  finish, 
and  so  differently  combined  as  to  utter  no  intelligent  sound. 

We  do  not  here  forget  that  man  has  an  intelligent  soul,  and 
that  language  is  the  utterance  of  thought.  We  speak  now  only 
of  the  physical  structure,  which  we  see  admirably  adapted, 
though  at  an  infinite  expense  of  skill  and  workmanship,  to  the 
great  and  benevolent  end  for  which  speech  was  given.  Had  we 
the  exquisitely  nice  perception  to  discern  the  thousand  little 
contrivances  and  adjustments  in  the  form  of  muscles,  nerves, 
bones  and  tendons  which  are  so  exactly  adapted  to  the  throat, 
the  lips,  the  hollow  of  the  mouth,  the  nose  and  all  the  parts 
which  combine  to  form  the  human  voice,  and  to  produce  artic- 
ulate sounds  of  every  conceivable  variety,  and  were  we  able  to 
compare  these  with  the  corresponding  and  less  perfect  organs 
of  the  inferior  animals,  we  should  gain  some  appreciation  of  the 


152          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

exuberant  skill  displayed  in  this  part  of  the  physical  struc- 
ture of  man. 

A  similar  line  of  remark  might  have  been  pursued  in  rela- 
tion to  the  machinery  by  which  other  functions  are  performed  ; 
as  the  touch,  taste,  smell  or  hearing ;  breathing,  digestion,  nu- 
trition or  any  other  function  of  the  body.  In  vain  do  we  essay 
to  scan  the  wonderful  apparatus  by  which  offices  so  complicat- 
ed and  curious  are  performed.  Such  mechanism  equally  tran- 
scends all  human  conception  of  mechanical  skill.  Not  less 
than  100  muscles  are  employed  in  the  simple  act  of  breath- 
ing. 

Man's  erect  posture  and  the  upright  position  of  his  face,  is 
another  peculiarity  of  his  structure,  to  which  we  need  but  to 
allude.  The  a'dvantages  we  possess  on  this  account  are  abun- 
dantly obvious. 

Other  physical  distinctions  peculiar  to  man,  and  which  give 
him  the  advantage  over  all  other  animals,  is  the  structure  of 
his  legs  and  feet ;  and  more  especially  of  the  hand  and  wrist. 
The  leg  and  foot  are  composed  of  bones,  muscles  and  ligaments, 
so  put  together  as  to  form  just  the  requisite  support  to  an  erect 
body,  and  to  give  the  ease  and  facility  of  action  which  the  erect 
body  requires,  and  secure  variety  and  elasticity  to  all  his 
movements. 

The  leg  of  no  other  animal  is  to  be  compared  to  that  of 
man,  for  the  universality  and  diversity  of  its  actions.  But  we 
design  no  more  than  simply  to  direct  attention  to  this  point. 

I  named  one  other  peculiarity  of  the  physical  man — the 
mechanism  of  the  wrist  and  hand.  Without  this  peculiarity, 
man  might  have  the  reason  of  an  angel,  yet  his  reason  would 
be  of  no  great  practical  benefit  to  him.  He  might  possess  wis- 


THE   HAND   AND   WRIST   OF   MAN-  153 

dom  and  skill  tenfold  more  than  he  now  does,  and,  with  only 
the  hoof  of  the  horse,  or  the  claw  of  the  eagle,  or  with  the 
hand  of  the  monkey,  he  could  never  rise  ahove  the  condition  of 
a  better  sort  of  brute. 

The  anatomy  of  the  hand  and  wrist  (and  a  similar,  though 
less  perfect  structure  of  the  ankle  and  foot)  has  not  failed  to 
attract  admiration.  The  chief  peculiarity  of  structure  here,  is 
met  in  the  fact  that  each  finger  is  formed  of  three  bones  in- 
stead of  two — is  furnished  with  a  nail  instead  of  a  claw,  and 
that  each  is  so  placed  in  relation  to  the  thumb  that  it  freely 
acts  with  the  thumb.  On  this  simple  arrangement,  apparently 
so  simple,  yet  secured  only  by  consummate  skill  and  contri- 
vance, depends  the  peculiar  flexibility  of  all  the  motions  of  the 
fingers.  It  is  only  by  this  means  that  we  can  grasp  an  object 
— that  we  can  lay  hold  of  even  the  smallest  object — that  we 
can  hold  the  pen,  ply  the  needle,  grasp  the  sword,  use  the  me- 
chanical instruments,  strike  the  musical  key,  or  cultivate  any 
one  of  the  useful  or  ornamental  arts  of  life. 

But  this  beautiful  design,  benevolent  as  it  is,  would  be 
quite  frustrated,  were  there  not  a  like  peculiar  formation  of  the 
wrist.  We  need  here  only  say  that  the  bones  are  articulated, 
or  connected  together  by  two  kinds  of  joints,  the  one  called  a 
hinge-joint,  as  the  joint  that  enables  us  to  move  the  hand  up- 
wards and  downwards ;  and  the  other,  the  socket  joint,  formed 
by  the  insertion  of  the  head  of  one  bone  in  a  socket  of  another. 
This  joint  is  seen  more  perfectly  in  the  wrist.  It  is  this  which 
allows  us  to  move  the  hand  from  side  to  side,  and  to  turn  the 
palm  upwards.  The  combination  of  these  two  kinds  of  joints 
in  the  one  at  the  wrist,  and  a  like  combination  at  the  shoulder, 
give  all  that  variety  and  ease  of  motion  to  the  arm,  hand  and  fin- 
7* 


154  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

gers  which  so  happily  distinguishes  man  from  every  other  living 
animal,  and,  as  an  obedient  and  fit  instrument,  makes  man 
lord  of  this  lower  creation. 

Could  we  minutely  inspect  all  the  bones,  joints,  ligaments 
and  articulations — all  the  mechanical  powers  and  contrivances 
which  make  the  human  hand  the  organ  it  is,  we  should  see 
reason  as  never  before,  to  admire  the  workmanship  of  the 
Divine  Hand.  It  is  a  most  perfect  specimen  of  mechanical 
skill. 

But  there  is  another  class  of  varieties  not  to  be  overlooked 
here ;  more  obvious  than  any  we  have  named,  yet  not  the  less 
interesting.  I  refer  to  external  features,  organs  and  develop- 
ments. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  marked  variety  which  characterises 
the  human  voice.  Articulation  is  produced  by  the  same  or- 
ganic structure  ;  yet  you  never  heard  two  voices  which  did  not 
differ.  There  is  such  a  perceptible  difference  in  the  tone,  the 
modulation,  the  quantity  or  quality  of  the  voice,  or  in  some 
indescribable  something  about  the  utterance  or  the  mode  of  ut- 
terance, that  it  is  oftentimes  a  more  sure  criterion  by  which  to 
distinguish  a  person,  than  his  form  or  features.  And  if  I  mis- 
take not,  a  little  attention  to  sounds,  as  uttered  by  the  brute 
animals,  would  convince  one  that  no  two  birds,  even  of  the 
same  species,  sing  alike,  or  two  cocks  crow  alike,  or  two  dogs 
bark  or  two  horses  neigh,  in  precisely  the  same  tone  of  voice. 
And  not  only  the  voices  of  no  two  members  of  the  human  fam- 
ily are  alike,  but  probably  the  voices  of  no  two  that  ever  lived 
were  precisely  alike.  Of  such  variety  we  can  form  no  concep- 
tion, yet  it  seems  but  analogous  with  the  order  of  the  Divine 
workmanship,  as  far  as  we  are  acquainted  with  it. 


155 

Before  dismissing  the  subject  of  the  human  voice,  I  had 
designed  to  refer  to  a  familiar  and  very  extraordinary  instance 
of  its  mechanism.  The  voice  of  Jenny  Lind,  considered  sim- 
ply as  a  piece  of  mechanical  skill,  was  a  very  extraordinary  pro- 
duction. We  may  take  it  as  an  intimation  in  one  line  of  the 
capabilities  of  humanity,  its  capabilities  of  song — a  premature 
development  of  the  music  of  the  upper  Paradise — a  develop- 
ment analogous  to  the  extraordinary  productions  occasionally 
met  in  the  vegetable  world,  and  as  rarely  met  in  other  depart- 
ments of  the  animal  world. 

The  following  curious  and  interesting  article,  on  the  "Me- 
chanism of  JENNY  LIND'S  Voice"  is  copied  from  a  late  English 
paper,  but  originally  appeared  in  the  New  York  Tribune : 

"  The  voice  of  this  great  cantatrice  is  one  of  those  wonderful 
natural  gifts  which  Providence  occasionally  vouchsafes  to  a  favorite 
mortal.  Jenny  Lind  possesses  what  may  be  termed  a  double  voice, 
the  natural  voice  from  grave  to  the  acute,  a  range  over  three  octaves ; 
and  she  has  the  power  and  faculty  of  producing  a  recurrent,  or  back- 
ward voice  into  the  lungs,  upon  the  upper  and  lower  notes  in  sing- 
ing, which  is  purely  ventriloquious,  of  which  faculty  her  '  echo '  song 
is  a  perfect  illustration.  Thus  she  is  able  to  control  her  voice  on  the 
most  difficult  vibrations  of  the  vocal  chords,  to  be  perfect  in  her  in- 
tervals, and  which  renders  her  so  surprising  in  the  perfection  of 
her  intonations,  that  they  ring  upon  the  ear  with  an  effect  and  a 
charm  so  indescribable  and  puzzling  to  the  hearer.  The  peculiarity 
is,  this  ventriloquious  power ;  and  the  wonderful  part  of  her  vocali- 
zation is,  that  her  organization  enables  her  to  use  those  recurrent 
sounds  the  same  as  a  person  whistling  executes  sounds  by  the  re- 
current action  or  drawing  in  the  breath  while  inspiring.  This 
faculty  Jenny  Lind  controls  and  manages  with  an  ease,  a  grace,  and 
with  such  masterly  and  artistical  skill  as  almost  to  defy  detection  by 
the  most  refined  and  critical  ear.  By  this  recurrent  or  ventriloquial 
action,  she  has  the  command  of  the  epiglottis  and  its  parts,  (the 
valve  closing  the  laryngeal  chamber  when  in  the  act  of  swallowing,) 


156  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   GREAT  KING. 

— vibrating  plates,  similar  to  the  plates  forming  the  bronchial  fissure 
of  the  larynx,  which  I  have  stated  is  the  natural  passage  for  the  air 
forming  the  voice. 

"  In  addition  to  the  command  over  her  vocal  faculties,  she  sings 
from  the  larynx,  while  she  throws  the  vocal  force  from  the  lungs 
and  diaphram,  giving  to  it  the  strength,  the  fulness,  the  roundness, 
and  the  steadiness  and  endurance  of  the  grave,  or  'chest  voice.'  By 
this  immensity  of  vocal  power,  by  the  contraction  and  diminution 
of  the  vocal  chamber,  she  is  enabled  to  trill  and  revel  high  into  alto, 
without  any  detection  from  her  hearers  of  any  stop  or  of  any  change 
in  her  voice.  Thus  her  intonations  and  modulations,  by  this  pecu- 
liar organization,  are  rendered  perfect,  and  her  upper  and  lower 
notes  are  given  with  an  inflexibility  and  softness  of  which  her  dy- 
ing-away  '  echo '  tone  is  a  practical  illustration — 

'  Linked  sweetness  long  drawn  out,' 

as  are  also  each  cadenza,  '  run,'  '  shake,'  and  '  trill,'  made  upon  her 
tones  with  a  decision,  flexibility,  purity,  and  correctness  that  are 
only  surpassed  by  the  delicate  yet  magnificent  swell  and  chaste 
diminuendo  of  her  middle  and  lower  tones,  which  has  established 
that  '  indescribable  peculiarity '  in  her  voice,  and  emphatically  se- 
cured to  her  the  euphonious  title  of  *  the  Nightingale.'  Nor  are 
these  all.  In  her  thrilling  notes,  she  has  the  faculty  of  using  the 
accessory  recurrent  notes.  It  is  our  opinion,  that  the  exercising  of 
these  notes,  and  this  ventriloquious  faculty,  by  overtasking  her 
powers,  lost  to  Jenny  Lind  her  voice  for  a  period.  These  accessory 
notes,  although  dissimilar,  are  rendered  artistically  correct,  and  at 
once  strike  the  mind  and  awaken  attention  and  wonderment,  both 
as  to  the  cause  and  their  execution.  It  is  all-sufficient,  however,  that 
a  pleasing  charm  of  an  exquisite  novelty  excites  the  admiration,  and 
calls  forth  the  spontaneous  bursts  of  enthusiasm  from  her  audi- 
ences, who  have  placed  the  great  cantatrice,  for  these  peculiarities, 
upon  the  pinnacle  of  fame,  where  she  stands  herself — alone — Jenny 
Lind." 

Superficial  observation  pronounces  a  thousand  things  to  be 
lijse,  which  a  little  discrimination  finds  to  be  so  unlike  that 
the  wayfaring  man,  though  a  fool,  might  have  discovered  it. 

The  face,  the  form,  and  general  movements  of  man  furnish 


TTNTFOKMITY   OF   THE   HUMAN  FACE.  157 

other  examples.  Nothing  is  more  distinctive  than  the  human 
countenance,  yet  nothing  which  exhibits  more  uniformity.  It 
is  rare,  and  indeed  horrifying,  to  meet  with  a  countenance 
which  is  wanting  in  any  of  the  parts  which  go  to  make  up 
the  human  face.  Though  alike  in  this  respect,  yet  nothing  is 
more  unlike.  Of  all  the  vast  population  of  the  globe  no  two 
faces  are  precisely  the  sajne  :  probably  the  remark  may  be  ex- 
tended to  all  that  have  or  shall  live  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
There  is,  even  in  cases  of  the  nearest  approximation,  a  diver- 
sity sufficiently  marked  for  all  the  purposes  of  distinction.  I 
have  seen  twin  sisters,  as  nearly  alike  as  two  peas,  yet  in  the 
family  circle  and  among  their  intimate  friends  the  distinction 
was  abundantly  obvious  to  prevent  all  mistakes.  Nor  do  we 
stop  here  :  the  countenance  may  be  unseen,  the  voice  unheard, 
yet  there  is  in  the  form  those  infallible  marks  of  distinction  or 
variety  which  enable  us,  almost  without  mistake,  to  recognize 
our  friends.  The  same  may  be  said  of  general  deportment. 
The  maxim  is  extensively  true,  that  every  one  has  a  way  of 
his  own.  This  way  of  his  own  is  a  universal  variety,  charac- 
terizing the  entire  race. 

And  I  am  by  no  means  certain  that  the  same  principle  will 
not  hold  respecting  variety  in  the  countenance,  form  and  gen- 
eral carriage  of  brutes — less  striking,  perhaps,  though  not  the 
less  real.  A  flock  of  sheep  or  a  herd  of  cattle  look  alike,  on 
the  same  principle  that  an  assemblage  of  Chinese  or  Africans 
appear  alike  to  a  person  unaccustomed  to  see  men  of  their  na- 
tional peculiarities.  The  attention  is,  at  first,  fixed  only  on 
the  general  likeness.  The  thick  lips  and  the  curly  hair  of  the 
one,  and  the  long  straight  hair  and  the  high  cheek  bones  of  the 
other  are,  perhaps,  the  only  features  contemplated.  These 


158  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

every  member  of  the  same  class  has  in  common.  But  the  mo- 
ment we  look  beyond  these  marks  of  uniformity  we  find  as  dis- 
tinct marks  of  variety  as  in  men  of  our  own  color  and  clime. 
So,  no  doubt,  we  should  find  it  in  reference  to  all  those  ani- 
mals with  whom  we  have  not  a  familiar  acquaintance. 

Bodily  organization  affords  further  varieties :  such  as  the 
greater  or  less  predominance  of  the  solids  or  fluids ;  the 
strength  of  the  passions ;  the  vigor  of  the  nerves ;  and  the 
greater  or  less  acuteness  of  the  senses. 

And  so  it  is  with  our  susceptibilities.  Some  are  susceptible 
of  high  pleasure  or  pain  from  objects  which  give  none  to  others 
— not  to  mention  all  the  intermediate  degrees.  Some  have  a 
high  sense  of  honor  or  shame  or  propriety,  where  others  are 
almost  wholly  destitute  of  it. 

We  select  individual  organs  or  features ;  the  eyes,  the 
nose,  the  ears ;  the  color  of  the  skin  and  the  hair ;  the  size, 
shape  and  expression  of  the  mouth  ;  the  form  of  the  lips  and 
the  contour  of  the  forehead  ;  the  eye-brows,  the  eye-lashes  ;  or 
whatever  feature  you  please,  and  as  you  compare  those  of  any 
number  of  individuals  composing  an  assemblage  ever  so  im- 
mense, you  will  find  no  two  alike.  Compare  noses,  a  thou- 
sand, or  a  thousand  myriads  if  you  will ;  and  though  all  are  in 
general  alike,  yet  every  one  is  a  distinct  variety.  Not  only 
do  you  meet  the  Roman  nose,  the  Grecian  nose,  the  truly  or- 
thodox Jewish  nose,  the  broad,  flat  nose,  the  pug  nose,  the 
evil-omened  sharp  nose,  but,  noses  of  the  most  approved  pat- 
terns. Noses  neither  fantastically  queer  or  ominously  pointed, 
but  seemingly  run  in  the  same  sensible  mould,  are  nevertheless 
as  diversified  as  the  faces  to  which  they  are  attached  are  nu- 


VARIETY   IX   NOSES.  159 

merous.     Every  man  has  his  own  nose,  and  no  other  man  of 
the  universal  family  has  a  nose  like  him. 

A  clever  Quarterly  discourses  thus  learnedly  on  the  form 
and  philosophy  of  noses  : 

"  A  first  division  of  noses  includes  all  that  are  in  proportion  to 
the  face,  too  small,  i.  e.,  all  such  as  are  decidedly  less  than  one- 
third  of  the  length  of  the  face,  or  less  long  than  the  forehead  is  deep. 
The  varieties  of  these  are  numerous  in  the  snub,  flat,  retrousse,  and 
up-turned,  or  celestial  noses.  The  natural  types  to  which  they  are 
generally  referable  are  either  the  little  noses  of  children,  or  the  flat, 
broad  noses  of  negroes ;  and  it  is  consistent  with  this  that  in  men 
of  civilized  races  all  such  noses  indicate  defective  intellectual  power ; 
and  do  so  with  a  certainty  of  symbolism  which  nothing  but  excel- 
lence in  the  form  of  the  head,  as  in  the  case  of  Socrates,  can  neu- 
tralize. They  tell  of  an  unfinished  intellectual  development ;  and  the 
lower  and  flatter,  and  more  snub  they  are,  the  more  certainly  do 
they  indicate  feebleness  and  meanness  of  intellect,  and  of  a  mind  in 
which  bad  temper  more  than  good  judgment  will  have  sway. 

"  It  is  not  quite  so  with  women.  In  them  the  whole  organiza- 
tion, in  its  gradual  development,  diverges  less  than  that  of  men 
does,  from  the  almost  similar  form  which  they  both  have  in  early 
childhood.  The  retention,  therefore,  of  the  little  child-like  nose  im- 
plies no  such  grave  defect  in  the  woman's  mind.  If  her  head  be  well 
formed,  such  a  nose  may  express  naivete,  or  perhaps  smartness  of 
wit  and  dexterous  intelligence.  But  even  in  women  such  noses 
need  to  be  associated  with  good  features.  If  they  are  not,  they  add 
much  to  the  expression  of  insignificance  or  even  coarseness.  The 
thicker  and  larger  forms  of  snub  nose  in  either  sex  commonly  indi- 
cate the  predominance  of  the  material  sensuous  character ;  and  a 
turn-up  nose  with  wide  obvious  nostrils  is  an  open  declaration  (so 
far  as  nose  can  make  one,)  of  an  empty  and  inflated  mind ;  of  a  mind 
in  which  there  is  but  the  spurious  imitation  of  that  strength  and 
loftier  pride  which  the  wide  nostrils  in  a  well-formed  nose  might  in- 
dicate. 

';  Large  noses,  in  men,  are  generally  good  signs ;  especially,  they 
add  emphasis  to  the  good  indication  of  a  well-formed  head  j  but  they 
must  not  be  too  fleshy  or  too  lean.  If  they  are  long,  (yet  short  of 


160  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GKEAT  KING. 

being  snout-like,)  they  mark,  as  prolongations  of  the  forehead,  the 
intelligent,  observant  and  productive  nature  of  the  refined  mind. 
If  Roman,  arched  high  and  strong,  they  are  generally  associated 
with  a  less  developed  forehead  and  a  larger  hind-head ;  and  they 
disclose  strength  of  will  and  energy,  rather  than  intellectual  pow- 
er ;  they  show  also  the  want  of  that  refinement  which  is  indicated 
by  the  straighter  nose.  The  Jewish  or  hawk-nose  commonly  sig- 
nifies shrewdness  in  worldly  matters ;  it  adds  force  to  the  meaning 
of  the  narrow  concentrative  forehead,  symbolical  of  singleness  of 
object ;  and  its  usually  narrow  nostrils  wear  the  unfailing  sign  of  cau- 
tion and  timidity.  The  Greek  straight  nose,  '  indicates  refinement 
of  character,'  love  for  the  fine  arts  and  lelles  lettres,  astuteness, 
craft,  and  preference  for  indirect  rather  than  direct  action.  '  Per- 
pendicular noses — that  is  such  as  approach  this  form, 

suppose  a  mind  capable  of  acting  and  suffering  with  calmness  and 
energy.' 

"A  nose  slightly  befied  at  its  end,  extends  and  corroborates  the 
indication  of  the  analytic  forehead.  Such  noses,  large  and  broad 
pointed,  are  frequent  in  men  with  acute  practical  knowledge  of  the 
world.  The  same  befied  end  is  often  seen  in  the  cogitative  or  wide- 
nostriled  nose,  wide  at  the  end,  thick  and  broad,  indicating  a  mind 
that  has  strong  powers  of  thought,  and  is  given  to  close  and  serious 
meditation.  "With  these  symbols,  Lavater's  dicta  fall  in :  '  A  nose 
whose  ridge  is  broad,  no  matter  whether  straight  or  curved,  always 
announces  superior  faculties.  But  this  form  is  very  rare.'  And 
again.  'A  small  nostril  is  the  certain  sign  of  a  timid  spirit.'  In  a 
woman  a  large  nose  is  of  more  uncertain  augury ;  for  it  is  apt  to 
extend  into  caricature.  If  it  be  well-formed  and  finely  modeled,  a 
rather  large  nose,  and  especially  one  which  is  nearly  straight,  or 
slightly  arched,  is,  in  a  woman,  often  characteristic  of  excellent 
mental  power.  But  any  of  the  more  peculiarly  male  forms  of  nose, 
if  large  and  coarsely  formed  in  woman,  denote  a  too  masculine 
character ;  and  those  that  are  of  ill  omen  in  man,  are  much  worse 
in  woman ;  since  the  evil  of  being  inappropriate  is  added  to  that  of 
malformation." 

And  so  it  is  of  eyes,  ears  and  every  other  feature  named. 
The  general  form,  size  and  structure  of  the  eye  in  every  hu- 


THE  EYE  THE  INDEX  OP  THOUGHT.          161 

man  head  arc  strikingly  alike ;  yet  when  the  eyes  of  any  as- 
semblage of  people,  however  large,  is  examined  with  a  little 
attention,  every  eye  of  every  individual  is  found  to  have  its 
distinctive  variety.  In  color,  form,  expression,  in  something, 
every  eye  differs  from  every  other  eye.  In  form,  size  and  gen- 
eral structure,  nothing  would  seem  to  present  more  uniformity 
than  the  human  ear.  Yet  when  you  may  be  sitting  behind  an 
immense  concourse  of  people,  you  would  be  amused  to  allow 
the  eye  to  take  a  glance  of  the  array  of  ears  before  you — all 
alike — yet  no  two  of  the  whole  alike. 

The  eye  affords  as  prolific  as  it  does  a  beautiful  illustration 
of  our  thought.  Not  only  in  form,  size,  color  and  general 
structure,  does  the  eye  present  most  interesting  varieties,  but 
still  more  in  its  expression.  Some  modern  writer  has  furnish- 
ed us  a  beautiful  illustration  in  his  delineation  of  a  woman's 
eye.  What  strange  emotions,  what  thoughts  do  we  discover 
in  this  little  mirror  of  the  soul.  There  is  the  "  glance,  the 
stare,  the  sneer,  the  invitation,  the  defiance,  the  denial,  the 
look  of  love,  the  flash  of  rage,  the  sparkling  of  hope,  the  lan- 
guishment  of  softness,  the  squint  of  suspicion,  the  fire  of  jea- 
lousy, and  the  lustre  of  pleasure : "  all  but  a  mere  specimen 
of  the  endlessly  varied  expressions  of  what  the  human  eye  is 
capable.  There  is  probably  not  a  thought,  not  an  emotion  of 
the  soul  which  it  may  not  mirror  forth. 

And  in  similar  phrase  we  might  speak  of  the  form  of  the 
face,  the  general  expression  of  countenance,  the  shape,  size  and 
expression  of  the  mouth,  and  indeed  every  feature  of  the  hu- 
man lace  ;  and  each  class  would  present  varieties  perhaps  not 
less  numerous  than  we  have  seen  in  respect  to  the  eye. 

Nor  is  such  endless  variety  a  mere  freak  of  nature — not 


162  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

simply  A  display  the  consummate  skill  of  the  architect.  It  is 
a  matter  of  great  practical  utility.  It  displays  a  rich  exuber- 
ance of  the  Divine  wisdom  and  benevolence.  But  for  these  dis- 
tinctions, trifling  as  they  may,  at  first,  appear,  men  would  lose 
their  individuality — we  should  often  be  unable  to  distinguish 
our  friends  from  strangers — the  innocent  would  be  arraigned 
and  condemned  instead  of  the  guilty — instead  of  an  absent  child 
we  might  receive  back  a  stranger  who  should  happen  to  have  a 
nose  of  the  same  form  and  size,  or  an  eye  of  the  same  color  or 
expression,  the  only  marks  of  recognition  which,  after  a  long 
absence  and  the  obliterating  processes  of  time,  might  be  suppos- 
ed to  remain.  But  a  kind  Providence  has  left  us  to  no  such 
confusion  and  chagrin.  No  two  individuals  of  all  the  human 
race  are  allowed  to  have  the  same  distinctive  marks. 

But  what  an  idea  does  this  give  us  again  of  the  manifold 
wisdom  of  God  ! — of  his  exhaustless  skill — of  his  "  thoughts  " 
— the  wonderful  contrivances — the  infinite  designs  in  the  Di- 
vine Mind !  It  was  when  contemplating  the  wonderful  work- 
manship of  the  Divine  Hand  something  after  this  sort  that 
David  exclaimed,  "  0  Lord,  how  great  are  thy  works,  and  thy 
thoughts  " — the  contrivances  and  ideas  of  all  existing  things, 
made  or  to  be  made — "  are  very  deep."  How  precious  thy 
thoughts  unto  me,  0  God,  how  great  is  the  sum  of  them.  If 
I  should  count  them,  they  are  more  in  number  than  the  sand ! 
Not  a  thing  so  minute  is  formed — not  the  color  of  a  hair,  or 
the  form  of  an  eye-brow,  or  the  most  trifling  expression  of  a 
single  feature  of  the  face ;  no,  not  the  shape,  size  and  color  of 
the  tiniest  flower,  the  conception  of  which  is  not  an  eternal 
idea  or  thought  in  the  Divine  Mind. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Human  Skill  and  Workmanship. 

BEFORE  proceeding  in  our  survey  of  the  department  marked 
"Man  and  his  varieties,"  we  may  turn  aside  a  few  moments  to 
contemplate  some  specimens  of  the  skill  and  workmanship  of 
man.  The  digression  may  be  more  seeming  than  real.  1 
have  had  occasion  frequently  to  allude  to  the  exquisite  skill 
and  workmanship  of  the  Divine  Hand  as  surpassing  all  won- 
der and  comprehension.  We  may  not  compare  the  human 
with  the  Divine.  We  may  not  speak  of  the  one  as  more  than 
the  remotest  imitation  of  the  other,  yet  there  is  something  in 
the  aspirations  of  the  human  mind  to  excel  in  skilful  work- 
manship which  cannot  fail  to  excite  our  profoundest  admira- 
tion— something  which  is  divine.  We  trace  these  aspirations 
to  a  divine  origin.  "  There  is  a  spirit  in  man,  and  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Almighty  giveth  them  understanding." 

I  do  not  now  refer  so  much  to  the  thousand  ingenious  and 
useful  inventions  and  discoveries,  which  are  the  proud  realiza- 
tions of  the  human  intellect,  as  to  certain  skilful  executions 
of  an  extraordinary  character.  While  some  of  these  involve  a 
high  degree  of  mental  acumen,  they  are  more  the  objects  of  ad- 
miration as  specimens  of  the  extreme  delicacy  of  workman- 
ship, and  in  this  respect  bear  a  more  striking  resemblance  to 


164  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

the  works. of  the  Supreme  Architect.  The  resemblance,  how- 
ever striking,  sadly  diminishes  as  each  is  subjected  to  a  near 
inspection.  The  extremest  microscopic  view  does  but  enhance, 
in  the  same  proportion,  the  beauty  of  the  executions  of  nature  ; 
while  the  same  close  inspection  quite  mars  the  beauty  and  con- 
verts to  roughness  the  most  perfect  work  of  human  skill. 
Viewed  "  through  the  microscope,  the  finest  and  most  costly  fa- 
bric of  the  loom  which  has  tasked  the  utmost  reach  of  human 
skill,  becomes  hideous  ropes  and  rags,  while  the  beauty,  grace 
and  exquisite  finish  of 'the  lily  is  infinitely  magnified." 

I  shall  quote  but  a  few  examples :  most  of  which  display 
more  of  the  folly  than  of  the  wisdom  of  man,  yet  they  exhibit 
a  singular  mechanical  skill,  and  are  worthy  of  notice  as  speci- 
mens of  the  diversified  talent  of  man. 

u  The  Emperor  Charles  V.  after  his  abdication  of  the  throne, 
amused  himself  in  his  later  years  by  automata  of  various 
kinds. 

"  It  was  his  custom  after  dinner,  to  introduce  upon  the  ta- 
bles figures  of  armed  men  and  horses.  Some  beat  drums,  some 
played  upon  fftites,  while  others  attacked  each  other  with 
spears.  Sometimes  he  let  fly  wooden  sparrows,  which  flew 
back  again  to  their  nest.  He  also  exhibited  corn  mills,  so  small 
that  they  could  be  concealed  in  a  glove. 

"  The  next  piece  of  mechanism  of  the  kind  worthy  of  much 
notice,  was  constructed  by  M.  Camus  for  the  amusement  of 
Louis  XIV.  when  a  child.  It  consisted  of  a  small  coach  which 
was  drawn  by  two  horses,  and  which  contained  the  figure  of  a 
lady  within,  with  a  footman  and  page  behind.  The  machine 
was  placed  on  a  table  at  one  extremity,  when  the  coachman 
smacked  his  whip,  and  the  horses  set  off,  moving  their  legs  in 


WONDERFUL   MECHANISM.  165 

a  natural  manner,  drawing  the  coach  after  them.  When  the 
coach  reached  the  opposite  edge  of  the  table  it  turned  sharply 
round  at  a  right  angle  and  proceeded  along  the  adjacent  edge. 
As  soon  as  it  reached  the  place  opposite  where  the  king  sat,  it 
stopped,  the  page  descended  and  opened  the  coach-door ;  the 
lady  alighted,  and  with  a  courtesy  presented  a  petition,  which 
she  held  in  her  hand,  to  the  king.  After  waiting  some  time, 
she  again  courtesied  and  re-entered  the  carriage.  The  page 
closed  the  door,  and  resuming  his  seat  behind,  the  coachman 
whipped  his  horses  and  drove  on.  The  footman,  who  had  pre- 
viously alighted,  ran  after  the  carriage  and  jumped  up  behind 
into  his  former  place." 

"  The  automaton  peacock  of  Gen.  Degennes,  a  French  officer 
of  the  17th  century,  probably  suggested  to  Fancauson  the  idea 
of  constructing  his  celebrated  duck,  which  excited  so  much  in- 
terest throughout  Europe,  and  which  was  perhaps  the  most 
wonderful  piece  of  mechanism  ever  made.  This  duck  exactly 
resembled  the  living  one  in  size  and  appearance.  It  executed 
accurately  all  its  movements  and  gestures — it  ate,  and  drank 
with  avidity,  performed  all  the  quick  motions  of  the  head  and 
throat  peculiar  to  the  living  animal,  and  like  it  muddled  the 
water  it  drank  with  its  bill.  It  produced  the  sound  of  quack 
ing  in  the  most  natural  manner.  Every  bone  in  the  real  duck 
had  its  representative  in  the  automaton,  and  its  wings  were 
anatomically  exact.  When  corn  was  thrown  down  before  it, 
it  reached  out  its  neck  to  pick  it  up.  It  swallowed  it,  digested 
it,  and  discharged  it.  The  digestion  was  accomplished  by  a 
chemical  solution,  after  which  it  was  conveyed  away  by  tubes. 
Beekman,  who  saw  it  long  after,  informs  us  that  its  ribs  were 
of  wire,  and  that  the  motion  was  communicated  through  the 


166  THE   PALACE    OP   THE    GREAT   KING. 

feet  by  means  of  a  cylinder  and  fine  chains  like  that  of  a 
watch." 

"  A  miscroscopic  photograph  was  recently  exhibited  at  Man- 
chester, England,  of  the  size  of  a  pin's  head,  which  when  magni- 
fied several  hundred  times,  was  seen  to  contain  a  group  of  seven 
portraits,  the  likenesses  being  admirably  distinct.  Another  of 
less  size  represented  a  tablet  erected  to  the  memory  of  a  citi- 
zen of  Manchester  ;  it  covered  one  nine-hundredth  part  of  a 
superficial  inch,  and  contained  680  letters,  every  one  of  which 
could  be  distinctly  seen  by  the  aid  of  the  microscope." 

"  In  the  olden  times,  people's  fancies  ran  into  queer  ex 
tremes,  and  set  their  ingenuity  to  work  in  odd  veins,  as  use- 
less as  curious.  For  instance,  there  is  a  cherry-stone  at  the 
Salem  (Mass.)  Museum  which  contains  one  dozen  silver  spoons. 
The  stone,  itself,  is  of  the  ordinary  size,  but  the  spoons  are  so 
small  that  their  shape  and  finish  can  only  be  well  distinguished 
by  the  microscope.  Here  is  the  result  of  immense  labor,  for  no 
decidedly  useful  purpose ;  and  there  are  thousands  of  other  ob- 
jects in  the  world,  fashioned  by  ingenuity,  the  value  of  which, 
in  a  utilitarian  sense,  may  be  quite  as  indifferent.  Dr.  Oliver 
gives  an  account  in  his  Philosophical  Transactions,  by  the  way, 
of  a  cherry-stone,  on  which  were  carved  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  heads,  so  distinctly  that  the  naked  eye  could  dis- 
tinguish those  belonging  to  popes,  and  kings,  by  their  mitres  and 
crowns.  It  was  bought  in  Prussia  for  $1,500,  and  thence  con- 
veyed to  England,  where  it  was  considered  an  object  of  so 
much  value,  that  its  possession  was  disputed,  and  became  the 
object  of  a  suit  in  chancery.  This  stone  Dr.  0.  saw  in  1687." 

"  In  more  remote  times  still,  an  account  is  given  of  an  ivory 
chariot,  constructed  by  Mermecides,  which  was  so  small  that  a 


MINIATURE   WRITINGS.  167 

fly  could  cover  it  with  its  wing ;  also  a  ship  of  the  same  ma- 
terial, which  could  be  hidden  with  the  wings  of  a  bee !  Pliny, 
too,  tells  that  Homer's  Iliad,  which  is  fifteen  thousand  verses, 
was  written  in  so  small  a  space  as  to  be  contained  in  a  nut- 
shell ;  while  Elia  mentions  an  artist  who  wrote  a  distich  in 
letters  of  gold,  and  enclosed  it  in  the  rind  of  a  kernel  of  corn. 
But  the  Harren  MS.  mentions  a  greater  curiosity  than  any  of 
the  above ;  it  being  nothing  more  or  less  than  the  Bible  written 
by  one  Petre  Bales — a  chancery  clerk — in  so  small  a  book  that 
it  could  be  enclosed  within  the  shell  of  an  English  walnut. 
D'Israeli  gives  an  account  of  many  other  similar  exploits  to 
that  of  Bales." 

"  There  is  a  drawing  of  the  head  of  Charles  II.,  in  the  library 
of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford,  wholly  composed  of  minute 
written  characters,  which,  at  a  small  distance,  resemble  the 
lines  of  an  engraving.  The  head  and  the  ruff  are  said  to  con- 
tain the  book  of  Psalms,  the  Creed,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer. 
Again,  in  the  British  Museum,  is  a  portrait  of  Queen  Anne, 
not  much  bigger  than  the  hand.  On  this  drawing  are  a  num- 
ber of  lines  and  scratches,  which,  it  is  asserted,  include  the  en- 
tire contents  of  a  thin  folio." 

Such  illustrations  of  genius  and  industry  are  scarcely  more 
than  melancholy  tokens  of  perverted  skill  and  assiduity.  In 
modern  days  human  genius  has  sought  out  a  more  excellent 
way  for  its  development.  Once  it  scarcely  aspired  to  a  higher 
honor  or  office  than  to  amuse  the  curious,  or  to  cater  to  the 
gratification  of  the  great.  Now  it  becomes  the  minister  of 
human  profit  and  of  human  progress.  It  enters  into  the  very 
business  of  life — gives  wings  to  commerce — teaches  how  to  ex- 
tract the  metal  and  the  useful  mineral  from  the  earth  and  to 


1(58  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GEEAT   KING. 

fashion  them  into  implements  and  agencies  of  profit  to  man — it 
gives  power  and  skill  to  the  mechanic,  and  ministers  essential 
and  timely  aid  to  the  farmer.  Human  skill,  no  longer  satis- 
fied to  fill  the  office  of  a  mere  inventor  and  fabricator  of  toys, 
has  become  the  handmaid  of  human  improvement. 

It  is  indeed  singular  how  many  "  men  have  literally  devoted 
the  energies  of  their  minds  to  perfecting  toys,  which,  although 
displaying  wonderful  inventive  powers,  yet  have  never  confer- 
red any  benefit  on  mankind,  nor  ever  been  even  used  for  any 
other  purpose  than  as  a  piece  of  amusement — the  childish  ex- 
hibition of  masculine  mind,  the  fame  of  foolery,  and  foolery  of 
fame. 

"  Thus  Jerome  Faba,  an  Italian  priest,  and  a  native  of  Ca- 
labria, exercised  himself  in  a  species  of  industry,  wonderful 
from  its  difficulty.  He  finished  a  work  of  box- wood,  which  re- 
presented all  the  mysteries  of  the  Passion,  and  which  might  be 
put  in  the  shell  of  a  walnut.  To  him  was  attributed  a  coach, 
the  size  of  a  grain  of  wheat,  within  which  there  were  to  be  seen 
a  man  and  a  woman,  a  coachman  who  drove  it,  and  horses  that 
drew  it.  These  were  presented  to  Francis  I.  and  Charles  the 
Fifth. 

"  In  China,  the  tomb  of  Confucius  has  been  made  in  small 
miniature,  no  larger  than  a  nut,  but  wonderfully  composed  of 
precious  metals,  and  adorned  with  a  profusion  of  gems  ;  but  its 
value  consists  of  the  labor  expended  on  its,  execution.  Its 
landscapes,  dragons,  angels,  animals,  and  human  figures, 
would  require  several  pages  of  description,  which  would,  after 
all,  without  a  view  of  the  model,  prove  tedious  and  unin- 
telligible. 

"  Charles  V.,  of  Spain,  had  a  watch  which  was  confined  in 


THE   TOMB    OF   RAPHAEL.  169 

the  jewel  of  his  ring ;  and  a  watchmaker  in  London  presented 
George  III.  with  one  set  in  the  same  manner.  Its  size  was 
something  less  than  a  silver  two-pence,  and  it  contained  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  different  parts,  and  weighed  alto- 
gether no  more  than  five  pennyweights  and  seven  grains. 

"  The  tomb  of  Eaphael,  executed  by  an  Italian  named  Kac- 
cavalva,  is  indeed  a  wonder.  It  is  only  twelve  inches  in 
height,  and  from  an  inch  to  four  inches  in  diameter.  It  is 
adorned  with  various  architectural  ornaments,  in  the  richest 
style  of  Gothic,  and  also  figures  of  the  virgin  and  child.  The 
work  is  said  to  be  of  unrivalled  merit  and  beauty.  The  model 
is  contained  in  a  case  of  wrought  gold,  and  -is  itself  of  box- 
wood. The  general  design  may  be  regarded  as  architectural, 
embellished  with  several  compartments  of  sculpture,  or  of  carv- 
ing, consisting  of  various  groups  of  figures.  These  display 
different  events  in  the  life  of  Christ.  Some  of  the  figures  are 
less  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  height,  but,  though  thus  mi- 
nute, are  all  finished  with  the  greatest  precision  and  skill ;  and 
what  renders  this  execution  still  more  curious  and  admirable, 
is  the  delicacy  and  beauty  with  which  the  back  and  distant 
figures  are  executed. 

"A  Polish  gentleman  in  New  York  has  transcribed  the  Holy 
Bible  on  a  surface  of  about  the  size  of  a  mantel  pier  glass, 
presenting  at  first  view  the  appearance  of  a  beautiful  temple, 
but  on  close  examination  every  part  of  the  elevation,  each  win- 
dow and  doorway,  and  every  thing  about  the  picture,  is  found 
to  be  distinct  and  regular  handwriting,  not  one  word  of  the 
Bible  being  omitted,  no  sentence  transposed,  and  the  chap- 
ters following  each  other  in  proper  order.  The  work  required 
two  years  and  seven  months  of  constant  labor.  When  he 
8 


170  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

commenced,  he  was  entirely  ignorant  of  the  English  lan- 
guage." 

The  Birmingham  Journal  says,  "  An  extraordinary  instance 
of  industry  in  an  humble  way  has  recently  come  under  our  no- 
tice. A  working  tailor,  named  George  "Watts,  residing  at 
West  Bromwich,  has  just  completed  a  piece  of  fancy  needle- 
work, consisting  of  upwards  of  four  thousand  pieces  of  cloth, 
sewed  together  with  different  colored  silk.  There  are  three 
hundred  figures  formed  by  pieces  of  cloth  upon  this  cover ; 
amongst  which  are  scenes  illustrative  of  Paradise,  the  Death  of 
Abel,  the  Crucifixion,  <fec.  ;  animals,  flowers,  ships,  bridges  and 
fortresses.  The  whole  is  the  work  of  his  hand,  and  occupied 
him  for  five  years  and  nine  months,  from  two  to  three  days  in 
the  week  having  been  devoted  to  its  completion.  It  is  valued 
at  £300." 

Or  we  might  quote  a  no  less  extraordinary  instance  of  in- 
genious mechanical  execution,  from  another  English  gaper. 
"A  person,"  says  the  Bradford  Observer,  "brought  to  our 
office  the  other  day,  a  polished  hazel  nut  mounted  with  silver, 
and  made  to  open  on  hinges,  and  close  with  a  spring.  On 
opening  this  diminutive  casket,  there  lay  upon  crimson  silk  a 
silver  tea-kettle,  with  hinged  lid,  all  of  the  neatest  and  most 
perfect  finish.  This  fairy  apparatus,  we  were  informed,  was 
made  from  a  fourpenny  piece,  by  a  working  jeweller  named 
Burton,  in  the  employ  of  Messrs.  Wilson  &  Fairbank,  of  this 
town." 

We  are  justly  amazed  at  the  revelations  of  the  microscope. 
It  displays  a  minuteness  and  delicacy  of  workmanship  in  Na- 
ture's architecture  often  surpassing  all  credence.  Yet  we  oc- 
casionally meet  with  imitations  in  art  which  scarcely  amaze 


SPECIMENS   OF  NATURE   AND   ART.  171 

us  less.  The  following,  in  which  we  find  the  two  species  of  work- 
manship coupled  together,  may  be  taken  as  a  specimen  of  each : 
There  is  a  shell,  which,  when  examined  with  a  microscope,  dis- 
plays a  surface  dotted  over  with  minute  protuberances,  regu- 
larly arranged  in  rows,  and  lying  so  closely  together  that  it 
would  require  8,000,000  of  them  to  fill  the  space  of  a  sixteenth 
of  an  inch  square.  It  is  stated  that  a  Mr.  Nobert  has  succeeded 
in  ruling  a  set  of  parallel  lines  occupying  112,603  to  the  inch. 
By  crossing  such  lines  with  another  set  of  equal  fineness,  the 
surface  of  one  sixteenth  of  an  inch  square  would  be  divided 
into  49,000,000  of  parts !  These  lines  are  not  only  invisible 
to  the  naked  eye,  but  the  best  microscope  will  scarcely  discern 
them. 

We  are  astonished  at  the  ingenuity  which  can  carve  hun- 
dreds of  heads,  or  thousands  of  letters  on  the  surface  of  a 
cherry-stone.  Yet  how  remote  an  imitation  is  this  of  Nature's 
painting!  Every  mountain,  hill,  dale,  river,  tree,  plant,  flow- 
er— every  object  in  a  landscape  of  miles  in  extent,  is  painted 
at  the  same  moment  on  the  retina  of  the  eye.  Yea,  the  whole 
broad  concave  of  the  heavens  is  reflected  in  a  single  dew- 
drop. 

We  may  be  indulged  in  adding  one  more  specimen  of  the 
curious  ingenuity  of  man.  We  select  that  of  a  wonderful 
clock.  Toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Jaquet 
Doros,  a  Swiss  clockmaker,  carried  to  Ferdinand,  the  Catholic, 
king  of  Spain,  a  clock,  which  was  the  wonder  of  all  Europe. 
The  king  paid  the  large  sum  of  500  louis  (about  2,200  dol- 
lars) for  it ;  and  when  it  arrived,  he  gathered  his  most  illus- 
trious noblemen  to  look  at  its  marvellous  works.  The  clock 
represented  a  landscape,  and  when  it  struck  the  hour,  a  shep- 


172  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

herd  issued  from  behind  some  rocks,  and  played  six  different 
tunes  upon  his  flute ;  while  his  dog  very  naturally  fawned  upon 
him ;  and  to  the  king  the  dog  was  faithful  as  well  as  affection- 
ate. Doros  told  him  to  touch  the  fruit  in  the  basket  by  the 
side  of  the  shepherd.  The  king  laid  hold  of  an  apple,  and  the 
dog  at  once  sprung  at  his  hand,  barking  so  naturally  that  a 
spaniel  in  the  room  replied  with  great  ferocity,  and  showed 
signs  of  fight.  At  this  all  the  court  left,  crying  out,  "  Sorcery ! " 
and  there  was  only  left  the  king  and  the  minister  of  the  navy. 
The  king  asked  the  shepherd  what  time  it  was  t  The  clock- 
maker  told  him  that  he  did  not  understand  Spanish,  but  if  he 
would  ask  him  in  French  he  would  reply.  The  king  then  put 
his  question  in  French,  when  the  shepherd  instantly  replied. 
This  was  too  much  for  the  minister  of  the  navy,  and  he  in- 
stantly ran  away.  The  poor  clockmaker  was  in  danger  of  be- 
ing burnt  for  a  sorcerer ;  but  he  explained  the  wonder  to  the 
grand  inquisitor,  who  was  convinced  that  instead  of  being  the 
work  of  evil  spirits,  it  was -only  the  result  of  great  ingenuity. 

But  human  skill  and  power  are  not  the  less  worthy  of  no- 
tice, as  they  are  employed  in  the  control  of  the  more  potent 
agencies  of  nature,  subjecting  them  to  the  use  of  man.  While 
man  on  the  one  hand,  is  capable  of  employing  a  skill  which  is 
almost  divine,  he  is  on  the  other,  allowed  the  control  of  pow- 
ers or  physical  forces  not  the  less  extraordinary.  The  winds 
obey  his  behests,  and  bear  his  ships  over  oceans  wide  and 
boisterous.  His  mechanical  skill  and  the  power  which  he  is 
able  to  call  to  his  aid,  constructs  vessels  which  can  breast  the 
most  tempestuous  seas.  Steam,  wild  and  untangible  and  ob- 
streperous as  the  whirlwind,  is  tamed  and  made  a  docile  loco- 
motive power.  Water,  fire,  the  vivid  lightning,  are  made 


EXPEET   USE    OP   THE   HA1SD.  IT 3 

subservient  messengers  and  obedient  agents  to  execute  the 
varied  purposes  of  man.  As  man  wills,  and  calls  into  action 
the  powers  at  his  command,  he  achieves  ends  which  as  far 
transcend  the  powers  of  the  wisest  and  most  powerful  irrational 
animals,  as  angels  excel  in  wisdom  and  power  the  wisest  and 
mightiest  of  mortals. 

The  following  facts  will  serve  to  give  some  further  hints  as 
to  the  capabilities  of  man,  in  relation  to  the  expert  use  of  the 
hand.  Man  is  distinguished  from  all  other  animals  by  the 
singular  structure  of  the  hand,  and  its  capabilities  of  serving 
so  many  useful  purposes ;  yet  its  higher  capabilities  are  but 
seldom  developed.  In  type-founding,  for  example,  when  the 
melted  metal  has  been  poured  into  the  moulds,  the  workman, 
by  a  peculiar  turn  of  his  hand,  or  rather  jerk,  causes  the  metal 
to  be  shaken  into  all  the  minute  interstices  of  the  mould. 

The  heads  of  certain  kinds  of  pins  are  formed  by  a  coil  or 
two  of  fine  wire  placed  at  one  end.  This  is  cut  off  from  a  long 
coil  fixed  in  a  lathe ;  the  workman  cuts  off  one  or  two  turns  of 
the  coil,  guided  entirely  by  his  eye,  and  such  is  the  manual 
dexterity  displayed  in  the  operation,  that  a  workman  will  cut 
off  20,000  or  30,000  heads  without  making  a  single  mistake  as 
to  the  number  of  turns  in  each.  An  expert  workman  can  fas- 
ten on  from  10,000  to  15,000  of  these  heads  in  a  day. 

The  reader  will  frequently  have  seen  the  papers  in  which 
pins  are  stuck  for  sale;  children  can  paper  from  30,000  to 
40,000  in  a  day,  although  each  pin  involves  a  separate  and 
distinct  operation. 

In  stamping  the  grooves  in  the  heads  of  needles,  the  opera- 
tive can  finish  8,000  in  an  hour,  although  he  has  to  adjust  each 
separate  wire  at  every  blow.  In  punching  the  eye-holes  of 


174  THE   PALACE   OP   THE   GKEAT  KING. 

needles  by  hand,  children,  who  are  the  operators,  acquire  such 
dexterity  as  to  be  able  to  punch  one  human  hair  and  thread  in* 
with  another,  for  the  amusement  of  visitors. 

In  finally  "papering"  needles  for  sale,  the  females  can 
count  and  paper  3,000  in  an  hour. 

Nor  is  the  following  unworthy  of  notice  as  a  specimen  of  a 
somewhat  similar  ingenuity :  "  We  were  shown,  this  morning," 
says  the  Buffalo  Commercial,  "  a  curious  specimen  of  chirogra- 
jphy ;  the  Lord's  Prayer  written  in  a  single  line,  one  inch  and 
three  quarters  in  length.  The  entire  number  of  words  is  sixty- 
three,  and  the  number  of  letters  two  hundred  and  forty-seven. 
The  average  number  of  letters  to  an  inch  is  one  hundred  and 
forty,  and  the  average  number  of  words  thirty-six.  It  adds  to 
the  wonder  of  this  performance  in  penmanship,  that  it  was 
written  by  a  gentleman  of  this  city,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of 
his  age,  who,  as  he  approaches  the  limit  of  threescore  years 
and  ten,  is  anxious  to  prove  that  his  eye  is  not  dimmed  nor  the 
cunning  of  his  hand  abated.  The  aid  of  a  lens  is  required  to 
read  it." 

Eev.  Dr.  Kirk,  in  a  letter  from  Manchester,  England,  says  : 
"  I  had,  in  the  oldest  factory  of  the  town,  a  striking  exhibi- 
tion of  the  value  of  human  art  and  labor.  A  pound  of  cotton 
was  pointed  out  as  worth  a  pound  of  gold.  Its  cost  as  crude 
cotton  may  have  been  eight  cents.  And,  as  a  curiosity  of  art, 
I  was  shown  a  pound  of  cotton  spun  into  a  thread  that  would 
go  round  our  globe  at  the  equator,  and  tie  in  a  good  large  knot 
of  many  hundred  miles  in  length." 


CHAPTER  XL 

MAN  :  All  sorts  of  Men  to  make  a  "World— Characteristics  and  Idiosyncrasies. 

BUT  we  propose  to  take  a  more  practical  view  of  man.  We 
shall  then  see  him  in  a  yet  stranger  variety.  Man  appears  be- 
fore us  in  every  possible  condition  of  life,  high  and  low,  rich 
and  poor,  wise  and  ignorant,  depressed  and  afflicted,  prosper- 
ous and  happy ;  he  has  mental  aptitudes  and  endowments  in 
the  most  varied  measure  and  in  the  strangest  variety,  and  we 
find  him  endowed  with  personal  characteristics  and  idiosyncra- 
sies as  strangely  diversified.  The  latter  classes  of  varieties 
will  abundantly  serve  our  purpose  in  the  present  chapter. 

It  is  an  old  adage  that  "  it  takes  all  sorts  of  men  to  make 
a  world."  We  shall  not  venture  to  call  in  question  the  truth 
of  this  time-honored  proverb,  but  shall  rather  undertake  to 
verify  its  truth  as  a  matter  of  fact,  and  as  an  arrangement  of  a 
wise  and  beneficent  Providence.  No  one  indeed  who  has  had 
the  opportunity  for  much  observation,  doubts  the  fact  that  the 
world  is  made  up  of  men  and  women  of  every  conceivable  sort, 
kind  and  caste — of  every  possible  shade  and  character,  tem- 
per and  disposition,  taste  and  aptitude  ;  of  every  intellectual 
grade  ;  and  men  in  every  imaginable  condition  of  life.  But 
the  wisdom  and  the  uses  of  such  providential  arrangements 
are  not  always  so  obvious. 


176  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

We  should  find  no  end  were  we  to  attempt  to  point  out  all 
the  varieties  to  be  met  in  the  character  and  condition  of  man 
— all  his  diversities  of  gifts,  graces,  talents,  accomplishments, 
capabilities,  aptitudes  and  susceptibilities.  In  form  and  shape 
of  body ;  color  of  skin ;  contour  and  expression  of  counte- 
nance ;  in  color  of  eyes  and  hair  ;  tones  of  voice ;  in  the  shape 
of  the  nose,  ears,  chin,  or  any  other  feature  of  the  face ;  as 
well  as  in  the  general  address  and  gait  or  movements  of  the 
locomotive  members ;  or  in  all  his  intellectual  qualities,  ac- 
quirements and  habits,  and  in  moral  and  religious  characteris- 
tics, we  meet  no  two  alike.  I  shall,  however,  at  present,  limit 
myself  to  three  classes  of  varieties  : 

1st.  Some  obvious  distinctions  of  general  character,  which 
I  shall  place  under  the  head  of  all  sorts  of  folks.  2d.  Intel- 
lectual varieties  and  their  uses  and  benefits ;  and,  3d.  Varie- 
ties in  conditions  and  social  positions  of  men. 

The  limits  of  this  chapter  will  allow  us  to  characterize  only 
a  few  of  the  first  class :  the  "  all  sorts  of  folks"  who  go  to  make 
up  a  world.  We  meet  men  in  all  the  varied  conditions  of  life 
— in  every  possible  aspect  of  intellectual  and  moral  culture, 
in  every  social  position,  and  in  all  the  distinctions  made  by 
wealth,  business,  office,  rank.  Yet  this  is  not  precisely  what 
we  mean  by  our  motto.  There  are  other  obvious  distinctions 
of  a  general  character — not  easily  defined,  and  with  difficulty 
classified,  yet  easily  recognized,  which  may  be  ranged  under 
the  above  head.  We  shall  try  to  find  something  unto  which 
to  liken  them. 

And,  first,  there's  your  iron  man  ;  firm,  determined,  harder 
than  the  granite — unless  you  get  him  heated.  Eight  or  wrong, 
you  may  hammer  at  him  as  long  as  you  please ;  it  is  no  use, 


MEN   OF   STEEL,    WELL   TEMPERED.  177 

if  lie  only  keep  cool.  Yet  stern,  frigid,  unattractive  as  he 
may  appear,  he  is  your  generally  and  most  permanently  useful 
man.  The  world  might  as  well  expect  to  get  on  without  the 
use  of  iron  as  without  this  hardy,  industrious,  weighty  class  of 
men.  Only  engage  their  tenacity  and  hardness  on  the  right 
side  and  they  are  the  best  men  in  the  world. 

Then  there's  your  men  of  steel :  possessing  all  the  intrinsi- 
cally excellent  qualities  of  hardness  and  tenacity  and  durability 
and  general  usefulness  of  the  class  just  named,  and  over  and 
above  these,  they  are  fitted  to  serve  some  purposes  which  the 
iron  man  does  not.  They  are  more  elastic — more  delicate  and 
flexible — yet  abate  not  an  iota  of  the  tenacity  and  hardness  of 
the  man  of  iron  (which  they  inherit  as  a  birth-right).  The 
truth  is,  they  are  the  same  in  stamina  and  material,  only  tem- 
pered and  refined,  and  made  more  pliable  and  useful  in  certain 
departments  of  life's  business.  They  take  a  higher  polish ; 
and,  like  steel,  that  can  be  worked  up  into  a  great  variety  of 
utensils,  vessels,  tools,  weapons  of  defence,  and  be  uiled  exten- 
sively for  mechanical  and  for  ornamental  purposes,  where  iron 
would  not  do,  this  class  of  men,  fill  a  place  and  exert  an  influ- 
ence in  human  enterprise  and  progress  where  the  rougher  vir- 
tues of  the  other  class  do  not  reach.  Where,  in  human  activi- 
ties, sharp-edged  tools  are  needed;  where  keener  perceptions 
and  more  delicate  sensibilities  are  required ;  and  yet  nerves 
not  the  less  firm,  and  resolutions  not  the  less  determined,  men 
of  steel  are  much  better  than  your  iron  men.  Both  possess 
the  same  general  substratum  or  basis  of  character ;  the  one  is 
the  more  generally  useful  and  indispensably  necessary,  and 
the  other  the  most  highly  useful  in  the  particular  sphere  to 
which  their  activities  are  more  especially  adapted. 


1*78  THE  PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

We  have,  too,  our  silver  men  :  very  useful  in  their  way,  be- 
cause they  occupy  positions  which  make  them  useful.  Silver 
is  of  little  intrinsic  value  in  itself.  The  commercial  world 
have  given  it  an  importance  by  agreeing  to  use  it  to  represent 
property  as  a  circulating  medium.  And  it  is  extensively  and 
conveniently  used  for  mechanical  purposes,  and  for  ornament. 
But  differently  from  iron  and  steel,  its  use  might  be  dispensed 
with,  and  other  metals  used  in  its  stead.  So  our  silver  men 
and  women  are  convenient,  and  often  ornamental,  and,  from 
position,  often  very  useful,  but  not,  like  our  iron  and  steel  men, 
indispensable.  Their  value  is  fictitious  rather  than  real.  We 
should  esteem  them  because  of  the  value  we  have  agreed  they 
shall  represent,  and  the  useful  purposes  to  which  we  have 
assented  to  devote  them.  There  would  be  left  a  great  chasm 
in  society  if  their  places  were  vacated. 

Claiming,  and  sometimes  seeming  to  belong  to  the  same 
class,  are  your  silver-coated,  silver-washed  and  silver-plated 
men.  This  kind  of  gentry  are  alloys,  with  a  thin  coating  of  a 
better  metal;  yet  not  wholly  worthless.  Though  their  out- 
side shine  is  the  least  of  their  worth,  yet  there  is  there  a  sub- 
stratum of  the  baser  metals,  of  some  worth.  To  this  class  be- 
longs the  first  layer  of  those  interesting  personages  called  apers 
and  pretenders.  They  frequently  pass  for  more  than  they  are 
worth  till  the  silver-coating  begins  to  wear  off,  and  then  you 
see  what  they  are. 

Next  comes  your  gold  men  :  pure,  genuine  men  of  sterling 
worth.  They  have  position,  wealth,  influence,  and  they  know 
how  to  use  them  for  the  real  good  of  society.  Kefined  and  in- 
telligent, the  heart  right  and  in  the  right  place,  they  are  the 
pure  gold  of  the  earth.  Though  like  gold  scarce,  yet  like  gold 


MEN  OF  GOLD,  TIN  AND  LEAD.  179 

of  high  value.  In  all  the  practical  purposes  of  life ;  in  all 
philanthropical  enterprises,  and  in  whatever  goes  to  promote 
the  real  advancement  of  man,  they  are  worth  their  weight  in 
gold.  But  there  are  the  ivould-be's  of  this  class,  too — gold- 
fringed  men,  gilt  men ;  men  and  women  of  glitter  and  gold 
tinsel,  and  all  the  sickly  silken  sons  and  daughters  of  fashion 
and  pleasure ;  no  more  like  the  real  men  of  gold  than  the 
slightest  possible  gilding  is  like  a  lump  of  gold. 

Then  there  are  the  men  of  tin :  thin-lipped,  sharp-nos- 
ed— neither  very  close-mouthed,  nor  safe-mouthed — a  little 
tart,  and  not  overburdened  with  the  milk  of  human  kind- 
ness or  troubled  with  common  sense ;  and  withal  a  little 
pretentious,  if  not  contentious — and,  like  tin  when  well 
scoured,  making  pretensions  to  be  of  the  silver  gentry. 

Again,  we  meet  a  class  that  we  can  only  liken  to  lead: 
heavy,  dull — body,  brains,  arms  and  legs  made  about  of  the 
same  material — mind,  heart,  pluck,  made  of  the  same  dead, 
dull,  dark,  crocky,  muddy  substance — no  more  life  or  elasticity 
than  a  dead  lump  of  lead. 

As  remotely  akin  to  these  are  men  of  stone :  rough,  cold- 
hearted,  hard-faced — and  like  stones,  you  tumble  over  in  the 
street,  or  find  troublesome  in  the  field,  you  wish  there  were 
less  of  them ;  yet  when  you  have  succeeded  in  quarrying  and 
cutting  and  polishing,  they  turn  out  sometimes  useful  and  or- 
namental blocks. 

In  complete  contrast  to  the  two  last,  we  have  our  India 
Rubber  men :  all  elasticity.  You  may  turn  them,  twist  them, 
bend  them  any  way  you  please — mould  them  into  any  shape 
— put  them  to  any  use — make  any  thing  of  them,  or  nothing  as 
you  will — make  a  foot-ball  of  them,  which  you  may  kick  as 


180          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

you  choose — make  a  ball  that  will  roll  as  well  one  way  as 
another — all  side  and  no  side — a  ball  that  you  throw  or  toss, 
or  make  bound  up  or  down.  They  are  men  of  any  opinion 
or  principle,  or  of  no  opinion  or  principle  ;  and  as  little  scru- 
pulous of  any  practice ;  as  pliable  as  their  very  elastic  proto- 
type. And  in  nothing  does  the  resemblance  appear  more 
striking  than  in  the  elasticity  of  their  consciences.  They  can 
stretch  their  conscience,  before  it  will  give  any  compunctious 
signs  of  violence,  as  far  as  you  can  draw  out  a  piece  of  India 
Kubber.  They  are  all  things  in  general  and  nothing  in  parti- 
cular. 

In  contrast  again  with  the  last  are  your  men  of  glass : 
open,  frank,  transparent  sort  of  men — easy,  good-natured 
bodies,  without  craft  or  disguise,  whose  thoughts  lie  outside — 
you  can  see  right  through  them.  They  are  quite  at  odds  with 
the  crafty  and  designing,  and  can  present  but  a  feeble  resist- 
ance to  the  pressure  of  life's  evils,  and  of  course  are  but  poorly 
fitted  to  meet  the  rough  and  tumble  of  the  world.  One  good 
crash  of  adversity  is  enough  to  break  them  into  a  thousand 
pieces.  They  are  very  good  sort  of  men,  and  fill  many  useful 
places,  yet  they  are  made  rather  for  the  sunshine  of  prosperity 
than  for  the  hailstorm  of  adversity. 

Other  men  that  it  takes  to  make  a  world,  we  may  denomi- 
nate brass  men  and  pewter  men.  These  are  both  compounds. 
Not  exactly  one  thing  or  the  other,  but  some  of  both.  The 
first  class,  like  brass  its  prototype,  has  some  claims  to  be  con- 
sidered a  finer  metal.  But  people  of  this  stamp  generally  put 
forward  their  claims  with  so  much  effrontery,  if  not  arrogance, 
that  their  claims  are  resisted  or  grudgingly  allowed.  This 
class  is  distinguished  for  little  else  than  their  self-conceit  and 


MEN    OF   ALL   YAEIETIES.  181 

impudence.  They  have  two  much  brass.  The  pewter  men  are 
half  lead  and  half  tin,  no  fixed  character  :  sometimes  as  dead 
as  lead,  and  under  other  circumstances  as  biting  and  rasping 
as  the  rough  edge  of  a  sheet  of  tin. 

Then  comes,  by  way  of  contrast,  your  wish-a-washy,  linsey- 
woolsey ',  tow. string  men,  all  belonging  to  the  same  genus — half 
vegetable,  half  animal,  yet  neither  so  well  developed  that  you 
are  quite  positive  where  to  classify  them.  The  head  of  each 
betrays  a  decided  affinity  to  a  vegetate  nature,  especially  to 
that  of  the  squash  species  ;  while  in  other  parts  the  animal  de- 
cidedly predominates.  This  species  is  not  generally  vicious, 
or  rabid,  or  mischievous,  for  the  very  good  reason  that  they  are 
not  capable  of  putting  forth  any  such  positive  symptoms  of 
vitality. 

Then  we  have  men  of  mercury — quick,  mercurial.  These 
are  your  quicksilvers — shiny,  showy — generally  good  metal 
— next  to  gold — though  not  quite  so  tangible — a  little  too 
slippery  and  rather  fiery.  Ttese  quicksilvers  quite  as  often 
figure  in  female  attire  and  rightfully  belong  to  the  sex. 
Though  sometimes  a  little  feared,  and  their  currency  occasionally 
questioned,  yet  they  may  be  depended  on  as  the  genuine  coin. 
Care  must  be  taken,  however,  to  distinguish  this  class  from  the 
gunpowder,  and  other  explosive  classes.  The  latter  are  never 
safe  to  bring  about  your  domestic  hearths,  especially  if  you 
have  a  little  too  much  fire  there  of  your  own. 

Then,  again,  for  variety's  sake,  we  have  our  gas  men,  or 
gaseous  men,  who  are  inflated  like  an  air  balloon ;  the  one 
with  gas,  the  other  with  vanity.  They  occupy  considerable 
space  during  the  inflation ;  but  cut  the  film  that  holds  the 
gas  and  they  vanish  into  desert  air.  These  men's  heads  are 


182  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GKEAT  KING. 

as  hollow  as  their  hearts  are  corrupt.  Under  the  same  genus 
we  may  class  men  of  froth  and  effervescence,  and  all  empty 
wind  men. 

Some  men  are  rough,  uncouth,  growling,  grumbling  like 
the  bear ;  others  are  lion-like  or  tiger-like,  or  wolfish,  or  fox- 
like.  Some  are  timid  as  the  deer,  or  gentle  as  the  lamb,  or 
possessed  of  the  strength,  beauty  and  alertness  of  the  leopard. 
Others  are  morose  and  surly  like  mastiff,  or  arrogant  and  over- 
bearing like  the  bull-dog,  or  snarling  and  snapping  like  the 
cur,  forever  barking,  but  never  having  the  courage  to  bite. 

So  much  in  harmony  with  our  present  mode  of  illustration  is 
the  following  paragraphs  taken  from  Dickens'  Household  Words 
that  I  hesitate  not  to  appropriate  them.  It  would  seem  not  im- 
probable that  it  takes  as  many  sorts  of  women  to  make  a  world  as 
it  does  men.  If  "  female  faces  "  exhibit  so  singular,  and  some- 
times so  grotesque  a  variety,  we  might  expect  to  meet  as  pro- 
lific display  of  variety  in  other  features  and  female  peculiarities. 
"I  know  a  woman,"  says  Dickens,  in  Household  Words,  "who 
might  have  been  the  ancestress  of  all  the  rabbits  in  the 
hutches  of  England.  A  soft,  downy-looking,  fair-faced  wo- 
man, with  long  hair,  lopping-like  ears  and  an  innocent  face  of 
mingled  timidity  and  surprise.  She  is  a  sweet-tempered 
thing,  always  eating  or  sleeping,  who  breathes  hard  when  she 
goes  up  stairs,  and  who  has  as  few  brains  in  working  order  as 
a  human  being  can  get  on  with.  She  is  just  such  a  human 
rabbit,  and  nothing  more — and  she  looks  like  one.  We  all 
know  the  setter-woman — the  best  of  the  types— graceful,  ani- 
mated, well-formed,  intelligent,  with  large  eyes  and  wavy  hair, 
who  walks  with  a  firm  tread,  but  a  light  one,  and  who  can  turn 
her  hand  to  any  thing.  The  true  setter-woman  is  always 


WOMEN    OF   ALL   SORTS.  183 

married ;  she  is  the  real  woman  of  the  world.  Then  there  is 
the  Blenheim  spaniel,  who  covers  up  her  face  in  her  ringlets, 
and  holds  down  her  head  when  she  talks,  and  she  is  shy  and 
timid.  And  there  is  the  greyhound-woman,  with  lantern  jaws 
and  braided  hair,  and  her  large  knuckles  generally  rather  dis- 
torted. There  is  the  cat- woman  ;  too  elegant,  stealthy,  clever, 
caressing,  who  walks  without  noise,  and  is  great  in  the  way  of 
endearment.  No  limbs  are  so  supple  as  hers,  no  backbone  so 
wonderfully  pliant,  no  voice  so  sweet,  no  manner  so  endearing. 
She  extracts  your  secrets  from  you  before  you  know  that  you 
have  spoken,  and  half  an  hour's  conversation  with  that  grace- 
ful, purring  woman,  has  revealed  to  her  every  most  dangerous 
fact  it  has  been  your  life's  study  to  hide.  The  cat-woman  is  a 
dangerous  woman.  She  has  claws  hidden  in  that  velvet  paw, 
and  she  can  draw  blood  when  she  unsheathes  them.  Then 
there  is  a  cow-faced  woman,  generally  of  phlegmatic  disposi- 
tion, given  to  pious  books  and  teetotalism.  And  there  is  the 
lurcher  woman,  the  strong-visaged,  strong-minded  female,  who 
wears  rough  coats,  with  men's  pockets  and  large  bone  buttons, 
and  whose  bonnet  flings  a  spiteful  defiance  at  both  beauty  and 
fashion. 

"  I  have  never  seen  a  true  lion-headed  woman,  excepting 
in  that  black  Egyptian  figure  sitting  with  her  hands  on  her 
knees,  and  grinning  grimly  on  the  museum  world,  as  Bubastis 
the  lion-headed  goddess  of  the  Nile." 

There  remains  one  other  class  of  men  which  ought  not  to  be 
passed  unnoticed.  It  is  a  sort  of  hybrid  race,  mongrel,  hetero- 
geneous, anomalous,  which  we  are  at  a  loss  where  to  classify. 
We  refer  to  your  exquisites,  your  fancy  gentlemen,  gentlemen 
loafers,  and  their  yet  more  exquisite  counterparts  of  the  other 


184          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEEAT  KING. 

sex.  These  notables  are  not  simple  substances,  but  compounds 
— compositions — cosmetics  of  exquisite  mixture — bitter,  sweet, 
oily,  odoriferous — rare  and  exquisite  specimens  of  humanity. 
While  we  cannot  form  them  into  a  distinct  class,  we  cannot 
arrange  them  in  any  one  class  already  named.  They  belong 
rightfully  to  at  least  three  of  the  above  specified  classes.  They 
belonged  to  the  silver-coats — or  are  of  the  gold-fringed  caste 
— gilt  men — the  gilding  often  as  thin  as  the  most  delicate 
foil,  and  covering  a  mass  of  the  basest  sort  of  metal.  Again, 
these  exquisites  show  strong  affinities  to  the  class  we  denomi- 
nated gaseous.  Just  perforate  these  bags  of  wind  and  disckarge 
their  gas,  and  they  would  collapse,  and  not  much  would  be  left 
of  them.  And  another  portion  of  this  class  bear  quite  as  near 
an  affinity  to  your  wish-a-washy,  dough-brained  gentry. 

But  we  need  carry  our  comparisons  no  further.  We  see 
that  if  it  were  the  design  of  Providence  to  make  up  the  world 
with  all  conceivable  specimens  of  humanity,  it  has  doubtless 
been  done.  And  if  it  were  the  design  that  the  great  family  of 
man  should  exist  in  such  an  endless  variety  of  character  as  to 
develop  every  passion  of  the  human  heart,  good  or  bad ;  to  ex- 
emplify every  grace  and  virtue  of  life ;  to  present  every  phase 
of  human  character ;  to  illustrate  every  faculty  of  the  mind ; 
to  do  every  duty  and  to  meet  every  want  of  man ;  and  to  fill 
every  supposable  station  in  this  present  life,  we  see  how,  in  the 
present  diversified  character  of  man,  it  has  been  done. 

If,  then,  life  is  a  great  stage  on  which  man  is  to  act  himself 
out,  and  to  develop  all  there  is  in  him  and  of  him — to  form 
character  and  to  develop  character ;  and  all  this  in  reference 
to  a  final  accountability,  and  a  future  state  of  yet  higher  de- 
velopment, we  need  not  wonder  that  human  nature  should  be 


ALL   MAKE   A   COMPLETE   WHOLE.  185 

allowed  its  developments  in  every  imaginable  variety  of  indi- 
vidual character.  It  is  not,  therefore,  an  accident  that  all 
sorts  of  people  do  make  up  a  world  ;  but  it  is  an  essential  part 
of  the  plan  of  the  great  and  wise  Architect,  that  human  charac- 
ter and  human  conduct,  good  and  bad,  should  be  brought  out 
and  illustrated  in  every  possible  trait  and  feature. 

Though  we  have  not  attempted  to  do  more  than  to  present, 
as  specimens,  a  few  of  the  endlessly  varied  characteristics  of 
man,  we  have,  doubtless,  left  the  impression,  at  least,  that,  in 
the  rearing  of  the  great  and  fair  fabric  of  humanity,  there 
are  worked  in  a  great  many  very  queer,  odd,  shapeless  and 
hopeless  blocks :  and  it  is  more  than  we  can  explain  how  such 
varied,  confused  and  heterogeneous  materials  are  fitted  and 
shaped,  compacted  and  cemented  so  as  to  make  one  great, 
beautiful  and  well-ordered  structure :  all  fitted  and  formed  one 
to  another,  and  each  to  its  place — some  huge,  rough,  unwieldy 
blocks  lie  concealed  in  the  foundation,  main  supports  of  the 
whole,  yet  unseen  and  unadmired ;  others,  cut  and  polished, 
adorn  the  comely  front,  admired  of  all.  Some  fill  up  the 
chinks  or  form  the  back  walls ;  others  are  carved  into  orna- 
ments and  serve  both  to  strengthen  and  beautify  the  whole. 
Each  fills  its  destined  place,  and  each  is  needful .  to  the  com- 
pleteness of  the  great  whole. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

VABIETIES  INTELLECTUAL  :  Many  Men  of  many  Minds,  or  all  sorts  of  Minds  make  a 

World. 

SIMILAR  ends  are  answered  in  the  general  economy  of  the 
great  human  family  by  the  singular  intellectual  varieties  which 
exist  among  men.  There  is  originally,  no  doubt,  every  imagi- 
nable variety  in  the  intellects  of  men.  Educate  any  two 
minds  precisely  the  same — submit  them  to  the  same  discipline, 
and  store  them  equally  with  knowledge,  and  each  will  show 
its  own  peculiar  idiosyncrasy.  The  reasonings  of  the  two  from 
the  same  facts,  and  their  conclusions  from  the  same  premises, 
would,  in  no  two  cases,  be  the  same.  There  is  as  great  a  di- 
versity of  talents,  taste  and  genius,  as  there  are  individual 
minds. 

It  would  be  quite  impossible  to  enumerate  the  various  ca- 
pacities and  capabilities  of  the  human  mind,  even  in  its  original 
state,  before  we  come  to  the  yet  more  remarkable  diversities 
which  have  been  produced  by  education,  habit  and  society. 
To  describe  the  latter  would  be  to  enumerate  all  the  endlessly 
varied  attributes  and  proclivities  of  all  the  minds  of  the  en- 
tire race — all  their  various  capacities,  dispositions  and  capabil- 
ities. 

While  all  human  minds  are  essentially  alike,  each  presents 
its  specific  varieties,  which  we  may  call  its  taste,  talents  or 


DIVERSITIES    OF   MENTAL    OPERATIONS.  187 

proclivities.  One  has  a  talent  for  the  acquisition  and  correct 
use  of  language.  An  inaccuracy  in  grammar  would  disturb 
such  a  one  more  than  a  deficiency  of  sense.  Another  has  a 
logical  mind — is  argumentative,  nice  and  accurate  in  its  defi- 
nitions and  distinctions,  and  given  to  reasoning,  and  takes 
nothing  for  granted.  One  mind  delights  in  research — is  al- 
ways digging — searching  after  things  abstruse  or  hidden — 
tracing  all  things  back  to  their  origin,  and  never  satisfied  even 
with  the  fairest  fabric  unless  it  can  see  the  lowest,  rudest  foun- 
dation stone.  Another  takes  in  things  as  it  were  by  absorp- 
tion— gathers  facts  as  by  intuition,  and  jumps  at  conclusions 
as  if  premises  were  of  nothing  worth.  One  takes  the  sober, 
serious,  matter-of-fact  view  of  things,  and  contemplates  them 
in  reference  to  their  utility  :  another,  at  first  view,  seizes  intui- 
tively only  on  the  ludicrous  aspects  of  a  subject,  and  contem- 
plates it  at  first  only  in  its  fitness  to  administer  to  his  amuse- 
ment, or  immediate  gratification ;  only  on  second  thought  do 
its  utilities  and  more  substantial  qualities  appear. 

Again,  we  meet  with  the  huge,  solid,  cubic,  mathematical 
mind,  where  all  must  be  demonstrated  by  figures.  Squares, 
cubes,  triangles,  right  lines  and  equations,  are  as  essential  to  the 
existence  and  health  of  such  a  mind  as  brick  and  mortar,  wood 
and  stone,  are  to  the  master  builder.  With  him  nothing  is 
right,  either  in  reason  or  in  fact,  if  it  be  not  mathematically 
right.  Contrasted  with  this  is  the  poetic  mind,  and  all  those 
intellectual  tribes  that  write,  read  and  live  in  the  great  world  of 
fiction  and  romance.  To  the  one  reason  and  reality  are  every 
thing.  To  the  other,  the  world  and  all  that  is  therein,  is  ideal. 
They  live  in  a  world  that  has  no  existence ;  they  move  about 
among  beings  that  are  but  the  creatures  of  their  own  fancy. 


188  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

They  laugh  at  their  own  spectres;  weep  over  sorrows  that 
never  were ;  rejoice  and  sympathise  with  friends  and  hate  ene- 
mies which  belong  to  a  world  that  nowhere  is. 

Some  minds  are  so  constructed  that  they  first  see,  and 
longest  contemplate  only  the  dark  side  of  an  object,  or  of  life : 
others  seize,  as  by  intuition,  on  the  bright  features;  laugh 
when  and  where  they  can,  and  leave  the  dark  features  to  lower 
and  brew  the  storm,  till  some  propitious  sun  arise  and  chase 
away  the  darkness,  and  all  become  light  together.  Some 
minds  are  naturally  aspiring,  grasping  after  great  things,  and 
possessed  of  an  immense  scope  of  comprehension.  They  as- 
pire to  a  knowledge  of  all  sciences.  They  grasp  to  know  all 
in  this  world,  and  fain  would  compass  in  their  knowledge  all 
things  in  all  the  worlds  that  sparkle  in  the  vast  universe. 
Other  minds  are  as  naturally  drivelling  and  grovelling.  Low, 
vulgar  things  and  thoughts  are  the  congenial  occupants  of  such 
a  soil. 

Some  minds,  again,  are  naturally  philosophical.  They  are 
forever  searching  into  the  properties  of  bodies,  and  the  causes 
of  events,  and  the  reasons  of  things.  They  take  nothing  on 
trust,  and  scarcely  know  whether  any  thing  is  what  it  appears 
to  be.  They  must  know  its  nature,  not  only  its  nature  as  a 
compound,  but  they  are  not  content  till  they  have  traced  each 
component  part  down  to  its  infinitesimal  atoms,  or  primordial 
particles,  a  million  of  which  are  said  not  to  be  larger  than  a 
grain  of  sand.  Others  never  feel  any  promptings  to  go  beyond 
the  surface  of  things,  and  never  care  to  know  whether  an  effect 
has  a  cause,  or  a  compound  any  component  parts. 

In  contrast  with  this,  taste,  graceful  inmate  of  the  human 
breast,  is  beautifully  prolific  of  illustrations  to  our  purpose. 


TASTE   MULTIPLYING   VAEIETY.  189 

Variety  in  taste  itself  is  proverbial.  Love  of  variety  is  one  of 
the  strongest  as  well  as  the  most  common  elements  of  the 
human  mind.  The  fact  is  too  obvious  to  require  comment — 
the  field  too  broad  for  illustration.  Yet  we  may  allude  to  the 
singular  productiveness  of  this  variety-loving  taste.  The 
strong  innate  passion  is  constantly  and  infinitely  embodying 
itself,  in  some  way,  in  nature ;  thus  multiplying  variety  be- 
yond all  conception.  It  originates  variety  in  food,  dress,  pur- 
suits, enjoyments.  How  it  variegates  the  fabrics  which  cover 
and  adorn  our  persons — which  load  our  tables  and  minister  to 
our  ten  thousand  gratifications. 

As  a  singular  illustration  of  the  numberless  instances  which 
may  occur  to  the  curious  mind,  I  may  allude  to  one  where  we 
should  scarcely  expect  taste,  with  her  most  delicate  tread,  to 
intrude.  It  is  taste  in  the  color  of  mourning  dress.  In 
Western  Europe  and  America,  black  only  accords  with  the 
sombre,  lugubrious  feeling  of  the  lacerated  heart.  The 
Chinese,  the  Japanese,  the  Siamese,  select  white  for  the  same 
purpose;  the  Turks,  blue  and  violet;  the  Ethiopians,  grey; 
the  Peruvians,  mouse  color ;  the  Persians,  brown  ;  the  Egyp- 
tians, yellow. 

Other  varieties  of  mental  structure  and  furniture  appear  in 
connection  with  memory r,  imagination,  self-reliance,  trust  and 
suspicion,  belief  and  scepticism.  Memory  is  a  curious  commodity, 
and  perhaps  no  faculty  of  the  mind  presents  more  interesting 
diversities  in  its  exercise.  Not  only  is  there  every  variety  as 
to  strength  and  retentiveness  of  memory,  from  the  memory  that 
almost  literally  retains  every  thing  that  was  ever  committed 
to  it,  to  the  memory  that  almost  as  literally  retains  nothing, 
but  there  is  a  variety  in  quality  quite  striking.  Some  have 


190  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

a  remarkable  memory  for  names  ;  others  for  figures,  dates  and 
dry  statistics.  These  latter  may  forget  their  own  children's 
names,  yet  give  you  correctly  the  year  and  day  on  which  Tom 
Thumb  was  born,  or  the  year  and  day  on  which  their  grandfather 
sold  the  old  horse :  while  others  can  scarcely  remember  an  isolat- 
ed fact  at  all,  yet  can  call  up  almost  any  thing  by  association. 

Some  men  are  naturally  self-reliant,  expecting  aid  only 
through  their  own  resources  and  exertions.  They  are  the  bold, 
the  industrious,  enterprising,  and  the  finally  successful.  Others 
are  as  naturally  timid,  distrustful  of  self,  and  dependent  on 
others.  In  like  manner,  one  class  is  trustful,  confiding,  easy 
to  believe — perhaps  credulous.  Such  are  neither  capricious 
nor  suspicious.  Another  has  a  strange  proclivity  to  question, 
cavil,  suspect,  and  to  slide — if  not  to  plunge — into  scepti- 
cism and  final  infidelity. 

Or  we  might  refer  to  aptitudes  of  mind  and  diversities  of 
genius,  and  we  should  have  illustrations  in  point.  Here  we 
meet  a  mechanical  genius — there  a  talent  for  business,  or  an 
aptitude  to  teach — or  a  "  a  musical  talent "  and  taste.  Then 
there  are  minds  that  are  always  on  the  wing  of  adventure, 
never  satisfied  to  be  circumscribed  within  the  boundaries  of 
the  known,  but  forever  prying  and  plunging  into  the  unknown 
— lovers  of  travel,  discovery  and  invention — seekers  for,  or  in- 
ventors of  some  new  thing. 

We  have  minds  that  lead,  and  minds  that  must  be  led ; 
minds  that  creep  and  minds  that  soar  ;  minds  that  plunge  into 
the  dark  and  carry  their  own  light  with  them  ;  and  minds  that 
can  flourish  only  in  the  light  of  others :  all  sorts  of  minds ; 
and  none  so  low,  or  small  that  is  not  filling  some  nook  or 
corner,  or  chink  or  crevice  in  the  great  world  of  thought  and 


THE   USE    OP   MENTAL   VARIETIES.  191 

activity ;  and  none  so  high  and  comprehensive  that  it  does 
not  find  a  field  of  action  fitted  to  its  scope  and  magnitude,  and 
which  is  not  subserving  the  great  ends  of  humanity. 

We  would  not  here  omit  a  reference  at  least  to  one  other 
class  of  mental  varieties.  It  is  the  "  universal  genius,"  or  the 
man  of  such  a  versatility  of  talent,  and  accumulation  of  ac-% 
quisitions,  as  to  give  a  sort  of  universality  to  his  genius.  Such 
a  mind  is  a  rare  variety  in  itself,  and  especially  because  it  is  a 
beautiful  blending  into  one  of  a  great  number  of  other  va- 
rieties. 

We  have  spoken  chiefly  of  original  diversities  of  mind.  If 
we  here  bring  into  the  account,  culture,  habit,  the  state 
of  society  and  the  influence  on  mind  of  human  progress,  we 
shall  find  the  number  of  diversities  multiplied  almost  inde- 
finitely— diversities  of  knowledge,  of  capacity,  and  of  every 
conceivable  development  of  mental  resources.  But  we  trench 
our  next  thought,  viz : 

The  use  of  such  variety  in  the  world  of  mind — the  practi- 
cal benefits  which  accrue  to  human  affairs  from  such  a  singular 
arrangement. 

By  means  of  the  present  diversified  character  of  the  human 
intellect  every  science  is  prosecuted,  and  every  department  of 
knowledge  cultivated ;  every  calling,  trade  or  profession  is 
brought  into  being,  and  its  duties  discharged ;  and  every  sta- 
tion in  life  filled.  The  resources  of  the  earth  are  by  this 
means  developed,  and  every  want  of  man  met.  The  sciences 
are  the  legitimate  fruits  of  these  different  proclivities  of  the 
human  mind ;  and  the  arts  are  but  the  natural  offspring  of  the 
sciences. 

Theology,  music,  logic,  rhetoric,  furnish  prolific  illustrations 


192  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

to  our  purpos^.  We  call  to  mind  such  men  as  Whitefield, 
Edwards,  Handel,  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton.  But  for  such  master- 
minds as  Edwards  and  Chalmers,  who  would  have  so  ably  un- 
folded.and  defended  the  doctrines  of  natural  and  revealed  re- 
ligion, and  shown  the  rock  on  which  they  stand?  And  while 
Edwards,  by  the  exercise  of  a  masterly  intellect,  was  digging 
deep,  and  laying  the  foundations  of  modern  theological  science, 
Whitefield,  and  others  mighty  to  speak  and  act,  brought  the 
living,  burning  truth  home  to  the  heart,  and  fixed  it  on  the 
conscience.  We  may  not  say,  who  do  the  church  the  greater 
service,  her  scholars,  her  orators,  or  her  writers.  She  can 
dispense  with  neither,  and  yet  prosper.  The  one  defend  her 
from  the  attacks  of  the  enemy,  and  rear  her  bulwarks  high  and 
strong.  Others  record  her  triumphs,  and  stereotype  on  the 
enduring  page  every  fresh  memorial  of  her  covenant  God, 
Others,  in  all  the  tenderness  of  love,  and  in  all  the  pathos  of 
sacred  eloquence,  urge  her  claims  on  the  attention  of  dying 
men  ;  or  in  the  harsh  thunders  of  Sinai,  denounce  the  curse  on 
the  unbelieving. 

Or  we  discover  the  same  diversity  of  gifts  by  a  reference  to 
Whitefield  and  Handel.  The  one  was  in  eloquence  what  the 
other  was  in  sacred  song ;  the  one  appealing,  through  the  un- 
derstanding to  the  heart  and  conscience,  calling  on  men  every- 
where to  repent  and  turn  to  God ;  the  other  drawing  out  and 
bearing  upward,  as  a  sweet  incense  before  the  altar  of  the  upper 
sanctuary,  the  devout  aspirations  of  the  new-born  soul.  There 
was  an  "  air,  a  soul,  a  movement  in  the  oratory  of  Whitefield," 
which  created  indescribable  emotions  in  his  vast  assemblies. 
Handel  equally  electrified  the  multitudes  in  Westminster 
Abbey.  His  power  of  song,  while  he  performed  the  Messiah, 


DIFFERENT   PROCLIVITIES    OF   MEN.  193 

raised  them  to  their  feet.  And  yet  greater  wonders  did 
Whitefield,  when  preaching  the  Messiah  to  the  scores  of  thou- 
sands in  Moorfields. 

And  here  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  add,  that  Whitefield 
in  another  respect,  furnishes  a  remarkable  illustration  of  our 
theme.  I  refer  now  to  a  singular  variety  in  the  mode  of  pre- 
senting and  enforcing  the  same  Divine  truth.  Whitefield  is 
said  to  have  preached  eighteen  thousand  sermons.  "  These." 
says  his  biographer,  "  were  but  so  many  variations  on  two  key- 
notes :  man  guilty,  and  may  obtain  forgiveness ;  and  man  im- 
mortal, and  must  ripen  here  for  endless  weal  or  woe  hereafter." 
Or,  to  reduce  the  whole  to  two  words,  it  is  SIN  and  SALVATION 
— guilt  and  condemnation  under  the  law,  and  pardon  through 
Christ,  and  heaven  through  his  righteousness. 

And  what  does  not  science  and  general  literature  owe  to 
the  same  diversity  of  intellectual  gifts  and  endowments.  A 
Newton  is  propelled  on,  as  by  an  irrepressible  proclivity,  to 
devote  his  days  and  nights  for  a  long  course  of  years  to  the 
higher  branches  of  mathematics,  and  then  to  apply  his  vast 
attainments  to  his  wonderful  astronomical  investigations  and 
discoveries.  Erenburgh,  by  a  proclivity  not  less  to  be  admired, 
plies  his  microscope,  and  lays  open  to  view  a  universe  of  ani- 
malcula,  not  the  less  the  wonder  of  the  world.  Franklin  tames 
the  lightning  and  brings  it  harmless  to  the  ground;  while 
Morse,  inspired  with  the  true  spirit  of  modern  science — the  spirit 
to  make  all  science  practical  and  the  real  handmaid  of  art  and 
human  progress — made  Franklin's  tamed  lightning  the  winged 
messenger  to  carry  with  lightning-speed  intelligence  around 
the  world. 

And  while  one  class  of  men  is  thus  impelled,  as  by  a  divine 
9 


194  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

impulse,  to  labor  indefatigably  and  unceasingly  to  lay  open 
to  the  gaze  of  man  the  boundless  expanse  of  the  heavens ;  and 
another,  to  reveal  the  wonders  of  the  microscopic  universe; 
and  others,  most  enthusiastically  to  devote  their  untiring 
energies  to  the  useful  handicrafts  of  life, — a  Milton,  a  Pollok, 
a  Byron,  create  worlds  of  their  own,  and  invite  us  to  traverse 
lands  which  exist  only  in  the  airy  dreams  of  fancy,  and  to 
view  landscapes,  and  to  visit  great  and  gorgeous  cities,  and  to 
converse  with  men  who  only  move  and  act  and  speak  in  the 
imagination  of  the  poet. 

Variety,  then,  is  something  more  than  the  "  spice  of  life." 
It  is  the  very  gist  and  essence  of  all  practical  life.  But  for 
the  diversities  of  gifts,  genius  and  talent,  all  but  one  of  all  the 
professions,  trades,  callings  and  pursuits  of  life  would  be  at 
once  annihilated.  We  might  in  such  a  case  have  philosophers, 
but  no  poets  ;  historians  without  mathematicians  or  more  than 
one  kind  of  scholars.  If  all  had  a  genius  or  talent  for  the 
same  mechanical  craft,  or  for  the  same  sort  of  business,  or  the 
same  profession ;  if  all  had  a  talent  or  taste  for  commerce,  or 
agriculture,  or  manufacturing,  where  would  be  the  scope  for 
their  enterprise — where,  a  market  for  their  products'?  They 
must  themselves  be  their  only  customers.  Could  we  succeed, 
as  some  would  wish,  in  bringing  all  minds  to  the  same  level 
and  in  shaping  them  in  the  same  mould,  so  that  all  men 
should  be  of  the  same  mind,  all  think  alike,  all  have  the  same 
opinions,  aptitudes  and  tastes,  and  the  same  degree  of  cultiva- 
tion and  improvement,  we  should,  instead  of  a  good,  have  pro- 
duced an  evil.  We  should  at  once  destroy  the  whole  web  of 
human  society,  arrest  all  human  progress,  and  bring  all  human 
affairs  to  a  dead  stand.  It  would  be  impossible  then  that  man 


mi      ^^     ^ifc.          '    ^^» 

SOCIAL  DISTINCTIONS   AND   HUMAN  PKOGKESS.  195 

«S 

should  advance  beyond  the  rudest  state  of  barbarism.  Sup- 
pose every  man's  genius  should  lead  him  to  pursue  the  business 
of  the  agriculturalist ;  indispensable  as  this  calling  is,  what 
then  would  be  the  condition  of  the  world?  Without  the 
designing  mind  and  the  skillful  execution  of  the  mechanic  and 
the  artist,  what  sort  of  houses  (if  houses  they  would  be)  should 
we  live  in  ?  What  sort  of  furniture  would  adorn  our  houses 
and  subserve  our  comfort  and  convenience?  What  sort  of 
utensils  should  we  work  with,  and  what  sort  of  machinery 
would  minister  to  the  supply  of  our  wants  ?  Who  would  build 
our  ships,  construct  our  railways,  invent  our  telegraphs,  smelt 
our  iron,  and  mould,  shape  and  hammer  it  into  every  con- 
ceivable form  of  utility?  Where  would  be  commerce,  the 
great  exchange  trade  of  the  world ;  and  what  would  be  the 
navigation  of  the  world,  beyond  that  of  paddling  a  log  canoe  I 

Indeed,  were  all  men  possessed  of  the  same  powers  and 
aptitudes  of  mind,  all  the  present  beautiful  diversity  of  charac- 
ter and  pursuit  which  constitutes  the  main  spring  of  society 
and  civilization,  would  be  almost  entirely  wanting.  But  hap- 
pily there  is,  corresponding  to  the  endless  variety  of  services  to 
be  performed  and  avocations  to  be  pursued,  a  like  diversity  in 
the  talents  and  tastes  of  men,  developing  a  most  beautiful 
adaptation  "  between  the  objects  of  human  knowledge  and  the 
powers  of  human  knowledge."  And  we  cannot  here  too  pro- 
foundly admire,  as  a  beneficent,  providential  arrangement,  the 
strong  predilections  which  men  show  for  their  own  callings  or 
pursuits ;  and  their  propensities  to  magnify ,  every  man  his 
own  "  office."  Such  predilections  and  propensities  may  often 
savor,  disagreeably,  of  personal  vanity;  but  their  existence 
and  exercise  are  most  salutary  and  essential  to  the  well-being 


196  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

of  society.  Without  this  partiality  of  every  man  for  his  own 
profession  or  calling,  no  class  of  men  would  excel  in  any  par- 
ticular department  of  labor ;  most  departments  would  not  be 
pursued  at  all — the  idea  of  a  division  of  labor  would  soon  be 
lost,  and  society  would  cease  to  advance  and  soon  return  to  its 
normal  state. 

But  by  the  singular  distribution  of  her  gifts  among  her 
children,  and  by  men's  equally  singular  proclivities,  nature  has 
provided  for  the  highest  welfare  of  man,  by  making  them 
mutually  dependent  and  mutually  helpful. 

This  singular  versatility  of  talent  and  genius,  indeed, 
bears  on  it  the  stamp  of  divinity.  So  beautifully  and  aptly 
are  all  things  provided  and  adjusted  to  meet  all  the  varied 
wants  of  man,  that  we  are  in  danger  of  overlooking  the  Divine 
wisdom  in  such  arrangements — how  one  man  is  endowed  with 
an  extraordinary  inventive  genius,  another  with  as  extraordi- 
nary capabilities  of  execution,  and  a  third  with  a  spirit  of 
daring  enterprise.  Of  the  two  former  we  have  a  striking  and 
well-known  illustration  in  the  case  of  a  famous  artificer  men- 
tioned in  the  chronicles  of  the  house  of  Israel,  during  their 
wanderings  in  the  Desert  of  Arabia.*  It  has  been  a  matter 
of  much  speculation  how  such  a  structure  as  the  Tabernacle, 
and  such  furniture  and  ornaments,  could  have  been  fabricated 
under  such  circumstances.  There  was  displayed  in  the  struc- 
ture itself,  and  in  the  utensils  to  be  used  in  it,  and  the  vest- 
ments and  ornaments,  a  perfection  of  artistic  skill  which  quite 
astonishes  us. 

Kecurring  to  the  account  given  of  that  extraordinary  work, 

*  Bezaleel,  the  son  of  Uri,  the  son  of  Hur.— Ex.  31  :  2-6. 


THE  TABEBNACLE  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.        197 

it  will  be  seen  at  once  that  almost  every  ingenious  art  was 
brought  into  requisition — carving  in  wood  and  stone — the 
working  of  every  sort  of  metal — the  compounding  of  metals 
and  forming  alloys  and  amalgams — the  cutting  and  setting  of 
precious  stones — gilding,  washing,  plating — "  overlaying  with 
gold."  Then  there  was  the  construction  of  the  most  delicate 
and  elegant  fabrics,  as  silks  and  fine  linen,  for  vestments,  cur- 
tains, veils,  fringes,  loops,  tassels ;  and  the  preparation  of  skins 
for  useful  and  ornamental  purposes  ;  and  the  art  of  dyeing  the 
most  beautiful  and  permanent  colors — blue,  purple,  scarlet.  In- 
deed, every  curious  art  seems  to  have  found  a  place  for  its  dis- 
play in  this  (in  that  age  and  place)  wonderful  structure  and 
its  more  wonderful  appurtenances. 

But  whence  such  skill  ?  Whence  that  "  spirit  in  man  "  to 
devise  and  execute  such  workmanship  at  the  particular  time 
when  it  was  needed"?  It  was  the  "inspiration  of  the  Al- 
mighty." The  mind  of  the  individual  referred  to  was  endowed 
with  the  taste  and  talent  for  just  such  works ;  and  then  his 
mind  was  stirred  up  to  devise  and  execute  them,  and  to  in- 
struct others  in  the  same  arts. 

The  account  we  have  of  this  matter  is  in  these  words :  "  See, 
the  Lord  hath  called  by  name  Bezaleel,  the  son  of  Uri,  the  son 
of  Hur,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah ;  and  he  hath  filled  him  with  the 
spirit  of  God  in  wisdom,  in  understanding  and  in  knowledge, 
and  in  all  manner  of  workmanship :  and  to  devise  curious 
works,  to  work  in  gold,  and  in  silver,  and  in  brass,  and  in  the 
cutting  of  stones,  to  set  them,  and  in  carving  of  wood,  to  make 
any  manner  of  cunning  work.  And  he  hath  put  it  into  his 
heart  that  he  may  teach  (others).  Them  hath  he  filled  with 
wisdom  of  heart,  to  work  all  manner  of  work,  of  the  engraven 


198          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GKEAT 

and  of  the  cunning  workman,  and  of  the  embroiderer,  in  blue, 
and  in  purple,  and  in  scarlet,  and  in  fine  linen,  and  of  the 
weaver,  even  of  them  that  do  any  work,  and  of  those  that  de- 
vise cunning  work." 

I  do  not  suppose  that  Bezal eel's  mechanical  inspiration,  if 
the  term  be  allowed,  and  his  call  to  his  work  differed  essen- 
tially in  kind,  though  it  might  in  degree,  from  the  various 
tastes  and  endowments  which,  in  every  age  fit  certain  classes 
of  men  to  pursue,  and  which  become  the  impelling  causes  to 
their  pursuing  such  handicrafts,  as  the  wants  of  the  respective 
ages  in  which  they  live,  require.  The  instance  serves  to  illus- 
trate the  Divine  control  over  all  the  springs  of  human  action, 
and  such  a  wise  direction  of  aft- the  varied  activities  of  man 
as  to  bring  about  all  the  multifarious  purposes  of  the  Divine 
wisdom  and  benevolence. 

We  do  not  wish  that  every  man  should  think  and  act  as  we 
do,  and  be  as  we  are.  We  have  an  interest  that  he  should 
differ  from  us.  We  would  not  have  all  to  be  of  one  craft,  or 
calling  or  occupation ;  or  all  possessed  of  the  like  ingenuity  and 
skill.  We^ish  not  only  the  privilege  to  do  our  own  thinking 
in  our  own  way,  but  we  wish  to  think  for  others,  and  to  have 
others  think  for  us.  We  wish  to  carry  on  an  exchange  trade 
in  thought ;  and  if  all  were  producing  the  same  intellectual 
commodities  as  ourselves,  we  should  find  but  a  meagre  market 
for  our  productions.  And  as  we  wish  in  return  to  avail  our- 
selves of  the  intellectual  productions  of  others,  it  would  be  no 
trifling  calamity  to  find  that  others  had  none  to  dispose  of,  ex- 
cept such  as  our  own  storehouse  is  crammed  with.  All  literary 
and  scientific  barter  would  be  at  an  end,  as  we  should  have  no 


THE  KEPELLANCY  OF  OPPOSITE  MINDS.        199 

occasion  to  buy,  and  could  not  sell :  and  of  the  "  making  of 
books  there  would  finally  be  an  end." 

And  if  our  mechanical  skill  or  aptitude  for  any  particular 
business  or  station  were  only  that  of  our  neighbor,  and  his  of 
his  neighbor,  the  world  over,  we  should  again  be  in  a  plight  quite 
as  hopeless.  Should  we  invent,  or  produce  some  rare  or  useful 
article,  we  want  a  world  about  us,  who,  not  possessed  of  the  in- 
ventive skill  and  able  to  produce  the  same,  will  patronize  us  and 
be  profited  by  our  invention,  and  in  their  turn,  invent  or  produce 
something  which  we  need.  It  is  the  very  life  of  the  world  that 
one  is  what  another  is  not,  and  can  do  what  another  cannot  do. 

"  There  is  a  strong  disposition  in  men  of  opposite  minds  to 
despise  each  other.  A  grave  man  cannot  conceive  what  is  the 
use  of  wit  in  society ;  a  person  who  takes  a  strong  common- 
sense  view  of  the  subject,  is  for  pushing  out  by  the  head  and 
shoulders  an  ingenious  theorist,  who  catches  at  the  slightest 
and  faintest  analogies ;  and  another  man,  who  scents  the  ridic- 
ulous from  afar,  will  hold  no  commerce  with  him  who  tests 
exquisitely  the  fine  feeling  of  the  heart,  and  is  alive  to  nothing 
else ;  whereas  talent  is  talent,  and  mind  is  mind,  in  all  its 
branches !  Wit  gives  to  life  one  of  its  best  flavors ;  common 
sense  leads  to  immediate  action,  and  gives  society  its  daily 
motion ;  large  and  comprehensive  views  cause  its  annual  rota- 
tion ;  ridicule  chastises  folly  and  impudence,  and  keeps  men  in 
their  proper  sphere  ;  subtilty  seizes  hold  of  the  fine  threads  of 
truth ;  analogy  darts  away  in  the  most  sublime  discoveries ; 
feeling  paints  all  the  exquisite  passions  of  man's  soul,  and  re- 
wards him,  by  a  thousand  inward  visitations,  for  the  sorrows 
that  come  from  without.  God  made  it  all !  It  is  all  good ! 
We  must  despise  no  sort  of  talent ;  they  all  have  their  separate 


200  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GEEAT   KING. 

duties  and  uses — all  the  happiness  of  man  for  their  object ; 
they  all  improve,  exalt  and  gladden  life."  * 

We  shall  here  be  excused  for  transcribing  from  the  Phila- 
delphia Ledger,  the  following  very  apposite  remarks,  on  the 
"value  of  scientific  men."  And  in  like  manner  we  might 
speak  of  other  classes  of  men. 

"  To  many,  the  scientific  men  of  a  nation  seem  but  drones, 
without  practical  utility,  trying  all  sorts  of  impracticable  ex- 
periments in  their  laboratories,  mixing  acids  and  alkalies,  and 
talking  learnedly  on  the  subjects  far  removed  from  practical 
life,  but  doing  nothing  for  mankind.  Solomon  tells  us,  too,  of 
a  poor  wise  man  who  delivered  a  city,  yet  no  man  remembered 
him. 

"If  there  is  one  sign  of  these  times  more  hopeful  than 
another,  it  is  that  scientific  men  are,  as  a  class,  more  honored 
than  at  any  former  period  of  the  world's  history.  James  Watt, 
who  discovered  the  steam  engine,  has  enabled  England,  with  a 
population  of  25,000,000,  to  do  work  that  as  many  hundred 
millions  of  men  could  not  have  done  without.  It  is  thus  that 
science  has  created  the  fabulous  wealth  of  that  monarchy.  She 
is  doing  the  same  at  this  moment  for  our  own  country.  Who 
can  tell  the  value  to  this  nation  of  the  life  of  such  a  man  as 
Fulton,  with  his  steamboats,  or  even  above  him,  our  own  glori- 
ous old  Franklin,  who  wrested  the  lightning  from  heaven, 
and  the  sword  from  the  hands  of  tyrants  ?  Doubtless  many 
a  man,  who  boasted  of  his  own  great  practical  business  powers, 
smiled,  if  in  passing  he  marked  him,  with  kite  and  key,  de- 
monstrating, in  this,  our  own  city,  the  identity  of  lightning 
and  electricity,  and  laying  the  foundation  thus  for  those  elec- 
trical telegraphs  now  ready  to  convey  tidings  from  continent 


THE   YALUE   OF   SCIENTIFIC   MEN.  201 

to  continent  round  the  globe  in  an  instant.  Who  can  calcu- 
late the  value  of  such  a  man  as  Professor  Morse  to  the  country 
and  to  the  world  1 

"  The  scientific  man,  then,  is  of  value  to  the  community 
just  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  labor  he  saves  to  other 
men  while  producing  similar  results.  Liebig  has  increased  the 
production  of  all  the  farms  in  England,  by  applying  the  princi- 
ples of  analytic  chemistry  to  soils,  manures  and  agricultural  re- 
sults generally — he  has  been  worth  millions  of  bushels  of  wheat 
already  to  Europe.  The  scientific  medical  men  of  that  coun- 
try have  lengthened  the  average  of  life  several  years.  The 
same  is  true  of  mental  science.  He  who  has  a  better  know- 
ledge of  those  laws  which  enable  a  man  at  once  to  distinguish 
truth  from  error,  can  write  a  book  which  will  save  thousands 
from  some  popular  mistake,  or  from  years  of  laborious  thought, 
enabling  men  to  form  just  conclusions  without  delay.  His 
empire  is  over  the  mind  of  man." 

Without  inventive  genius  and  the  love  of  adventure,  and 
research,  and  discovery,  who  would  enlarge  the  boundaries  of 
knowledge;  who  search  out  the  dormant  properties  of  sub- 
stances, and  bring  to  light  and  introduce  to  the  notice  of  man, 
the  long-hidden  resources  of  nature,  and  make  them  to  sub- 
serve the  purposes  of  his  comfort  or  improvement  ?  As  in  the 
progress  of  the  world  human  affairs  advance  towards  their 
grand  climacteric,  and  the  wants  of  the  race  are  vastly  multi- 
plied, the  diversified  mental  resources  of  man  are  found,  at 
every  step  of  this  progress,  to  be  quite  adequate  to  the  demand. 
Not  a  new  article  of  food  or  clothing  is  needed  by  man  ;  not  a 
new  product ;  not  a  new  element  of  power  is  wanted,  but  some 
one  is  found  to  have  the  sagacity  to  discover  it,  or  the  in- 
9* 


202  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GKEAT   KING. 

genuity  to  produce  it.  By  means  of  this  extraordinary  versa 
tility  of  talent,  every  department  of  human  improvement  is  ad 
vanced,  and  all  the  wants  of  man  promptly  met.  Some  navi- 
gate unknown  seas  and  discover  lands  before  unknown ;  others 
ransack  nature  for  new  substances,  or  form  for  use  new  com- 
pounds from  substances  already  known. 

But  for  these  "  diversities  of  gifts "  who  would  write  our 
books,  edit  our  papers  and  journals ;  who  print,  bind,  and  cir- 
culate them  ?  Who  would  be  our  statesmen ;  who  search  into 
the  intricacies  of  law  and  be  able  to  dispense  justice  and  de- 
fend human  rights ;  who  study  the  healing  art,  investigate  the 
laws  of  health  and  life,  acquaint  themselves  with  the  nature 
and  history  of  diseases,  and  search  out  remedies  ?  And  who 
would  delve  into  the  mine  of  sacred  truth  and  search  out  its 
rich  stores,  and,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  impart  to  every 
one  as  he  have  need  ?  Who  would  unfold  the  beauties  and 
excellences  of  the  Word,  elucidate  its  doctrines,  enforce  its 
precepts,  and  administer  its  consolations  to  them  that  mourn, 
impart  knowledge  to  the  ignorant,  and  proclaim  pardon  to  the 
guilty? 

And  but  for  the  peculiar  mental  proclivities  which  create 
the  taste  and  furnish  the  needed  qualifications,  who  would 
occupy  the  eminently  useful  and  responsible  position  of 
teachers  of  our  youth  ?  Many  a  man  may  build  a  ship,  or 
navigate  a  boisterous  ocean,  or  write  a  learned  treatise  on 
philosophy  or  mathematics,  who  cannot  "  teach  the  young  idea 
how  to  shoot."  This  is,  like  every  other  department  in  the 
great  business  of  life,  a  profession  or  calling  that  requires  its 
peculiar  aptitudes  and  qualifications. 

But  our  idea  needs  no  further  illustration.     Yet  we  may 


EVERY  MAN  HAS   HIS   OWN  PLACE.  203 

be  excused  if  we  pause  a  short  moment  to  draw  an  inference — 
viz. :  that  it  is  a  matter  of  superlative  importance  that  every 
man  should  be  able  to  find  his  place,  and  then  in  his  own  ap- 
propriate, fitting  place,  do  his  duty.  Every  man  has  a  place, 
a  business,  a  calling,  for  which  he  is  better  fitted  than  for  any 
other ;  and  his  own  success  and  comfort,  as  well  as  the  good 
of  the  whole,  depends  on  his  keeping  his  place  and  doing  his 
duty  there. 

And  we  might  deduce  another  inference,  which  is,  that  the 
position  or  calling  of  an  individual  is  of  itself  a  matter  of 
vastly  less  consequence  than  the  manner  in  which  the  duties 
of  the  position  are  performed.  All  the  callings  and  positions  of 
life  are  but  links  in  the  same  great  chain.  We  may  not, 
therefore,  make  comparisons  of  their  relative  or  real  importance. 
All  are  important  to  the  integrity  of  the  chain,  and  to  the 
securing  of  the  great  ends. 

"  From  Nature's  chain  whatever  link  you  strike, 
Tenth,  or  ten-thousandth,  breaks  the  chain  alike." 

The  only  fortunate  position,  the  position  to  be  coveted,  is 
that  in  which  the  right  man  finds  the  right  place.  And  the 
only  honorable  position  is  that  in  which  the  right  man  in  his 
right  place,  patiently,  perseveringly  and  honestly  discharges 
the  duties  of  his  place.  But  we  tread  on  the  confines  of  our 
next  topic. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Man  and  his  Varieties,  in  Ms  endlessly-diversified  conditions  of  life. 

AGAIN,  we  may  say  it  takes  all  grades,  castes  and  conditions 
of  men  to  make  a  world.  We  need  take  but  a  cursory  glance 
over  the  face  of  society  to  see  that  there  is  very  great  in- 
equalities in  their  temporal  condition  ;  and  not  only  inequalities 
in  condition,  but  diversities  the  strangest  in  respect  to  social, 
civil,  domestic  and  religious  habits  and  usages.  The  diversi- 
fied character  of  the  earth's  surface,  its  varied  climates,  soils, 
productions,  do  but  correspond  to  an  equally  diversified  charac- 
ter and  condition  of  the  nations  and  tribes  which  are  nourished 
by  them.  Never  is  human  sagacity  more  completely  non- 
plussed than  in  its  attempts  to  account,  on  any  natural  prin- 
ciples, for  the  singularly-diversified  conditions  of  human  life. 
You  may  select,  for  an  example,  a  score  of  young  men,  and 
suppose  them  to  start  out  in  life  with  equal  fortune,  talents, 
opportunities  and  prospects  of  success,  and  their  future  life 
will  scarcely  admit  of  comparison — only  of  contrast.  The 
path  of  life,  of  each  from  the  other,  will  be  a  divergence  almost 
from  the  outset.  With  the  same  facilities  of  success  no  two 
will  succeed  alike.  Under  the  very  circumstances  in  which 
one  prospers,  another  will  meet  disaster  and  downfall.  It  is 
not  in  man  that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps.  The  lot  is  cast 
into  the  lap,  but  the  directing  of  it  is  of  the  Lord. 


PEOYIDENTIAL  DISPARITIES.  205 

Hence  we  need  not  be  surprised  at  the  singular  disparities 
among  men.  There  will  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and 
poor,  the  wise  and  the  ignorant,  the  industrious  and  thriving, 
the  idle  and  beggarly.  There  are  perhaps  no  two  of  the  whole 
human  family  whose  temporal  condition  is  precisely  the  same. 
Some  have  more  than  heart  can  wish,  and  know  not  when  sor- 
row cometh;  others  are  poor  and  cast  down  and  afflicted, 
strangers  to  light  and  joy.  The  singular  disparity  in  the  con- 
ditions of  men  has  been  a  subject  of  profound  perplexity, 
especially  to  those  towards  whom  Providence  has  seemed  to  be 
less  propitious. 

The  causes  of  these  disparities  may  be  providential,  or  such 
as  we  cannot  control,  and  for  which  we  are  not  responsible ; 
or  they  may  be  personal,  and  matters  of  praise  or  dispraise  on 
3ur  part.  Yet  whichever  it  may  be,  a  little  reflection  will 
show  that  all  these  inequalities  and  varieties  of  man's  condition 
here  are  permitted  and  wisely  directed,  and  made  to  con- 
tribute to  the  greatest  good  of  the  whole. 

The  great  Heavenly  Parent,  who  in  all  his  arrangements 
is  working  out  a  great  system,  and  who  forms  and  executes  all 
his  designs  in  reference  to  the  great  end  to  be  attained,  is 
doubtless  the  Author  of  these  endlessly-diversified  conditions 
of  man.  No  other  system  would  fully  develop  every  trait  of 
human  character,  every  capability,  capacity  and  susceptibility, 
both  physical,  mental  and  moral ;  and  no  other  plan  would 
have  secured  the  great  ends  of  the  present  economy  of  things : 
that  ie,  provided  for  every  necessity  of  man,  and  secured  the 
discharge  of  every  conceivable  duty,  and  the  doing  of  every 
needful  work,  and  the  filling  of  every  station  on  the  broad  field 
of  life,  and  the  pursuit  of  every  science  and  every  department 


206  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   GREAT  KING. 

of  knowledge,  which  tends  to  the  consummation  of  the  one 
great  plan.  But  for  these  varied  conditions  of  man,  many  a 
useful  pursuit  and  necessary  calling  would  be  left  unprovided 

for. 

"  Order  is  Heaven's  first  law;  and  this  confest, 

Some  are,  and  must  be,  greater  than  the  rest, 
More  rich,  more  wise  ;  but  who  infers  from  hence 
That  such  are  happier,  shocks  all  common  sense." 

Our  idea  may,  at  least  imperfectly,  be  illustrated  thus  :  the 
proprietor  of  some  great  business  concern — say  a  great  manu- 
facturing establishment — is  engaged  to  realize  from  it  every 
legitimate  advantage.  In  order  to  secure  the  end,  work  of 
every  conceivable  kind  is  to  be  done ;  and,  of  course,  men  of  a 
correspondingly  varied  skill  and  capacity  must  be  employed, 
from  the  intelligent  superintendent  or  head  agent,  the  man  of 
address,  position  and  influence,  to  the  scullion  and  sweeper. 
Men  of  all  sorts  of  skill  and  ingenuity  are  brought  in  requisi- 
tion,— from  him  who  can  invent  the  most  ingenious  machinery 
and  form  the  most  delicate  portions  of  it,  to  him  who  can  only 
hammer  out  a  plain  piece  of  iron,  or  lay  a  rude  stone  in  the 
foundation  of  the  building.  How  many  cunning  artificers  in 
wood,  and  iron,  and  stone,  and  brass,  and  copper,  and  almost 
every  metal,  before  the  buildings  and  their  machinery  are  ready 
for  the  work  of  the  manufacturer ;  and  then  what  varied  skill 
and  talent,  and  power  of  muscle,  each  characterizing  a  respec- 
tive grade  and  position  in  life,  are  needful  to  the  carrying  out 
of  the  proprietor's  main  and  final  end.  How  much  business 
talent  and  financiering ;  how  much  mathematical  accuracy  and 
philosophical  research  in  reference  to  the  materials,  the  struc- 
ture and  the  fitting  up  of  the  machinery ;  and  what  different 


THE   WORLD   A   GEE  AT   MACHINE.  207 

degrees  of  intelligence  and  what  variety  of  character  are  en- 
gaged in  the  daily  operation  of  this  machinery,  and  in  all  the 
details  of  planning  the  fabrics  to  be  made,  directing  every  in- 
dividual workman  and  marketing  the  products.  It  is  a  minia- 
ture world,  and  it  gives  employment  to  a  few  thousand  men, 
scarcely  two  of  whom  holds  precisely  the  same  position,  or  are 
fitted  to  do  precisely  the  same  work. 

The  world  over  which  our  great  Proprietor  presides  is  a 
great  and  complicated  piece  of  machinery,  and  the  end  to  be 
gained  is  of  infinite  worth.  The  carrying  out  of  its  details  in- 
volves the  necessity  of  instruments  and  agents  of  every  possible 
grade,  from  him  who  sits  on  the  pinnacle  of  political  power, 
as  ruler  or  king,  or  him  who  rules  in  the  world  of  letters  or  of 
science,  or  of  financial  and  mechanical  skill,  to  the  delver  in 
the  mine3  or  the  diver  in  the  ocean,  or  the  drainer  of  the 
swamp,  or  the  sweeper  of  the  chimney.  An  infinite  variety  of 
positions  is  to  be  filled,  each  important,  each  essential  to  the 
completeness  of  the  great  plan. 

"  All  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole." 

The  harmony,  then,  of  this  great  whole,  the  good  to  be 
accomplished  by  its  working ;  the  good  to  the  individual  and 
the  good  to  the  entire  race  as  a  whole,  depends  not  on  the 
rivalries  and  strifes  and  struggles  of  men  to  get  out  of  the 
position  for  which  they  are  fitted  and  evidently  destined,  but 
on  the  fact  that  each  man  should  faithfully  and  contentedly  do 
his  duty  there. 

"  What  if  the  foot  ordained  the  dust  to  tread, 
Or  hand  to  toil,  aspired  to  be  the  head  ? 


208  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   GREAT  KING. 

What  if  the  head,  the  eye,  the  ear  repined 
To  serve  mere  engines  to  the  ruling  mind. 
Just  as  absurd  for  any  part  to  claim 
To  he  another  in  this  general  frame." 

We  do  not  mean  that  a  man  may  not  aspire  to  better  his 
condition,  or  change  his  position  for  one  for  which  he  is  better 
fitted,  and  where  his  power  of  body  and  of  mind  may  be  more 
available  in  the  great  arena  of  life.  The  very  aspirations 
which  may  and  often  ought  to  fill  the  soul  of  the  young  man 
to  make  more  of  himself  than  he  is  at  present,  may  be  taken 
as  the  intimations  of  Providence  that  he  is  not  now  occupying 
the  position  for  which  he  is  the  best  fitted,  where  he  may  use 
his  capabilities  to  the  best  advantage. 

I  have  intimated  that  the  causes  and  the  reasons  of  the 
singularly  varied  conditions  of  men  are  to  be  found  in  the  dis- 
posings  of  a  wise  Providence.  Yet  there  are  proximate  causes 
of  these  conditions  which  should  not  be  overlooked.  Man  is, 
in  an  important  sense,  the  framer  of  his  own  fortune,  and  if  he 
is  out  of  position,  he  generally  has  himself  to  thank  for  it ;  or, 
if  he  is  successful,  he  is,  under  God,  the  author  of  his  good  for- 
tune. The  truth  is,  men,  by  their  different  degrees  of  indus- 
try, enterprise  and  cultivation  of  mind,  and  by  the  application 
of  the  various  resources  given  them,  and  the  improvement  of 
opportunities,  indefinitely  diversify  their  own  conditions,  and 
then  Providence  uses  them  in  these  diversified  conditions,  to 
carry  out  his  equally  diversified  purposes.  Men  are  furnished 
by  Providence  with  the  raw  material,  whether  it  be  of  mind 
or  muscle,  of  skill  or  opportunity,  and  then  the  working  up  of 
this  material  is  left  very  much  to  their  own  forethought  and 
application  ;  or,  Providence,  in  other  words,  furnishes  the  foun- 


DIVERSITIES   HOW   ESSENTIAL.  209 

dation  plot,  and  the  inherent  skill  and  power,  and  time  and 
opportunity  and  materials  ;  then  leaves  man  to  construct  the 
edifice — to  work  out  his  own  fortune — to  form  his  own  condi- 
tion in  life. 

But,  however  originated,  whether  as  an  arrangement  of 
Providence,  or  the  creations  of  man,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  all  these  diversities  of  fortune  and  station  are  essential  to 
the  greatest  good.  It  is  a  wise  and  gracious  appointment  of 
Providence.  "  Were  there  no  diversity  of  wealth  and  station, 
we  should  be  deprived  of  many  of  the  comforts,  conveniences 
and  assistances  which  we  now  enjoy.  Every  one  would  be 
obliged  to  provide  for  himself  food,  drink,  clothing,  furniture, 
shelter,  medicines  and  recreations ;  and,  in  seasons  of  sickness, 
danger  and  distress,  he  would  have  few  or  none  to  alleviate 
his  affliction  and  contribute  to  his  comfort."  But  by  means 
of  the  present  arrangement,  all  the  several  capacities  and  en- 
dowments of  mankind  are  beautifully  brought  into  play,  and 
all  "in  those  lines  of  active  exertion,"  for  which  they  are  fitted 
best  to  subserve  the  interests  of  general  society.  "  One  is  pre- 
paring the  leather,  another  is  making  for  us  the  shoe;  one 
is  tending  the  sheep  on  mountains,  another  is  wearing  the  car- 
pet, or  preparing  the  cloth  for  our  clothing.  Some  are  delving 
in  the  mine,  or  smelting  the  ore,  or  tempering  the  steel,  and 
forming  the  ten  thousand  implements  of  use  among  men ; 
others  are  buffeting  the  waves  on  unknown  seas,  to  bring  us  the 
luxuries  of  other  lands.  Some  are  wearying  their  brains  by 
day  and  by  night  in  writing  for  us  ;  others  are  exercising  their 
skill  and  ingenuity  in  printing  what  they  write.  Some  are 
preparing  grammars,  dictionaries,  and  all  sorts  of  elementary 
books  for  learners ;  others  are  contributing  their  quota  to  the 


210  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GEEAT  KING. 

common  weal,  as  teachers:  and  so,  through  every  class  and 
grade,  each  supplying  the  lack  of  the  other,  and  each  contrib- 
uting something  of  his  own  to  the  general  stock."* 

Hence  it  is,  the  whole  human  family  are  strangely  constituted 
in  a  state  of  dependence  one  on  another.  No  man  liveth  to  him- 
self. There  is  a  mutual  dependence — not  among  men  only  of  the 
same  condition  in  life,  but  scarcely  less  among  men  of  different 
conditions.  I  do  not  know  that  the  poor  are  more  dependent 
on  the  rich  than  the  rich  are  on  the  poor.  The  king  is  nothing 
without  his  subjects.  The  rich  man  would  soon  be  without  his 
purple  and  fine  linens,  and  sumptuous  fare,  but  for  the  untiring 
toils  of  the  humble  laborer  ;  and  the  man  who  blesses  the  world 
with  his  valuable  mental  attainments,  looks  in  his  turn  that  he 
may  share  in  the  benefits  of  every  other  handicraft  of  industry. 
There  is  through  all  the  varied  ranks  of  society  this  mutual 
and  necessary  dependence.  And  the  beauty  and  perfection  of 
life  consists  very  much  in  a  suitable  adjustment  of  all  its  mu- 
tual relations,  the  prompt  and  cheerful  discharge  of  mutual 
duties,  and  the  free  exercise  of  all  those  feelings  of  benevolence 
on  the  one  hand,  and  of  gratitude  on  the  other,  which  the  right 
discharge  of  duty  secures. 

The  merit  of  life,  then,  consists  not  in  oeing  able  to 
extinguish  all  distinctions  in  society  and  to  bring  all  to  one 
level,  but  in  the  harmonious  working  of  the  great  machine  of 
human  activity,  as  the  great  Disposer  has  arranged  it.  The 
bringing  the  mortar  and  the  laying  the  brick  are  quite  as  es- 
sential to  the  existence  of  the  mansion  to  be  erected,  as  the 
skill  of  the  architect  or  the  ingenious  devices  of  the  carver  and 

*  Dr.  Thomas  Dick. 


DISTINCTIONS   THEMSELVES   NOT   EVIL.  211 

the  glazier.  He  that  honestly  fulfils  the  duties  of  a  low  con- 
dition, is  vastly  more  to  be  honored  than  he  that  neglects  or 
badly  performs  the  duties  of  a  high  position.  The  one  should 
be  ashamed  of  himself,  and  the  other  should  not  be  ashamed  of 
his  position. 

"  Honor  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise  ; 
Act  well  your  part ;  there  all  the  honor  lies." 

The  evil  lies  not  in  the  distinctions  themselves,  but  in  the 
discontent,  and  restiveness,  and  pride,  and  spirit  of  insubordi- 
nation, which  are  all  the  time  attempting  to  subvert  the  wise 
ordinations  of  Providence.  But  for  the  emulations  and  strifes, 
the  pride  and  ambition  which  disturb  the  harmonious  working 
of  the  great  machine  in  all  its  ten  thousand  parts,  all  would 
move  delightfully  and  harmoniously  forward,  and  "  every  sta- 
tion and  rank  would  contribute,  in  its  sphere,  to  the  prosperity 
and  happiness  of  another.  For  the  poor  cannot  do  without 
the  rich,  nor  the  rich  without  the  poor,  the  prince  without  his 
subjects,  nor  subjects  without  wise  and  enlightened  rulers  and 
equitable  laws.  All  are  linked  together  by  innumerable  ties  ; 
and  the  recognition  of  these  ties  and  the  practice  of  the  recip- 
rocal duties  which  arise  out  of  them,  form  the  source  of  indi- 
vidual happiness  and  the  bonds  of  social  enjoyment." 

Numerous  and  endlessly  varied  as  human  wants  are,  and 
multifarious  as  are  the  positions  to  be  occupied,  yet  as  numer- 
ous and  correspondingly  varied  are  the  resources  and  endow- 
ments of  men,  qualifying  them  to  fill  them  all. 

There  is,  then,  more  truth  than  triteness  in  the  maxim: 
It  takes  all  sorts  of  men  to  make  a  world:  all  ranks,  castes  and 
conditions ;  men  of  all  sorts  of  dispositions  and  idiosyncrasies — 


212  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

of  all  kinds  of  habits,  aptitudes  and  appetencies — the  high,  the 
low,  the  rich,  the  poor ;  the  yielding  and  the  uncompromising 
— the  stern,  the  unbending,  the  marble-cheeked  and  the  iron- 
sided,  to  breast  the  assaults  of  savagery,  and  to  hold  with  a  strong 
arm  the  lawless  and  disobedient,  the  wicked  and  unreasonable. 
There  are  needed,  too,  the  skilful  and  inventive,  the  shrewd 
and  shiftless — the  ruler  and  the  leader,  and  those  to  be  ruled 
and  led 

All  have  their  uses ;  some  directly  promote  human  happi- 
ness and  improvement  and  the  great  ends  of  life ;  and  some 
indirectly.  Some  directly  generate,  cherish  and  mature  the 
graces  and  virtues  of  life,  others  are  but  the  indirect  occasions 
of  such  results.  Some  have  much  to  do  in  the  formation  of  our 
characters ;  others  are  chiefly  useful  in  trying  these  characters. 
They  give,  for  example,  patience  her  perfect  work, 

Hence  the  singular  variety  of  condition  which  we  meet 
among  men.  But  we  quite  mistake  if  we  circumscribe  the 
skill,  influence  and  the  final  uses  of  all  these  singularly  varied 
conditions  to  the  present  life.  They  are  designed  by  a  Benefi- 
cent Providence  to  be  the  occasions  of  rearing  an  infinite 
variety  of  plants  for  the  Garden  above.  In  due  time  the  great 
Vinedresser  will  transplant  them  into  the  celestial  Paradise, 
where  they  will  flourish  all  the  better  for  their  short  wintering 
process  amidst  the  rude  blasts  or  the  parching  droughts  of  an 
earthly  atmosphere. 

We  may  therefore  rest  assured  that,  in  spite  of  all  attempts 
to  equalize  the  condition  of  man — the  tendency  of  good  laws 
and  human  institutions  to  protect  and  bless  the  humble  and 
to  raise  them  to  a  better  condition — it  remains  a  matter  of  fact 
(and  is  likely  to),  that  the  condition  of  man  is  almost  as  varied 


A   THKEEFOLD   VARIETY.  213 

as  men  are  numerous.  The  difference  may  be  of  moral  worth, 
of  mental  acquisition,  of  the  possession  of  earthly  pelf,  or  of 
honor  or  office — of  accident  or  the  result  of  hard  applied  indus- 
try— it  may  be  of  praise  or  of  blame — for  immediate  good  or 
for  evil — a  righteous  dispensation  of  Providence,  or  a  result  of 
human  pride  and  folly.  We  speak  of  the  fact,  and  may  be  in- 
dulged in  a  closing  thought  as  to  the  design. 

The  virtue  of  life  consists  in  living  in  the  world  on  suita- 
ble terms  ivith  all.  In  this  are  developed  all  the  varied  excel- 
lencies of  our  natures,  and  all  the  diversified  graces  of  our 
Eeligion.  Here,  by  the  way,  is  discovered  a  threefold  variety : 
a  variety  in  our  moral  constitution,  fitting  us  for  the  exercise 
of  all  the  sympathies  which  the  varied  conditions  of  life  about 
us  require ;  a  variety  of  religious  qualifications  suited  to  the 
same  demands,  and  a  corresponding  variety  in  the  wants  of 
men. 

Were  there  no  disparity  in  the  conditions  of  men — were  all 
on  a  level  as  to  mind,  morals,  skill  and  ingenuity  in  turning 
their  bodily  and  mental  powers  to  useful  purposes ;  as  to  edu- 
cation, health,  earthly  possessions,  influence  and  power,  sorrow 
and  joy,  prosperity  and  adversity,  where  would  be  the  room 
for  the  exercise  of  our  varied  graces,  and  the  varied  suscept  - 
bilities  of  our  natures  1  Were  there  no  poor  to  be  relieved ; 
no  ignorant  to  be  instructed ;  no  abandoned  to  be  reclaimed ; 
no  sin  to  be  rebuked ;  no  pain  to  be  assuaged ;  no  affliction  or 
distress  to  draw  out  the  tear  of  sympathy,  or  solicit  the  hand  of 
relief,  there  would  be  no  play  for  the  generous  workings  of  the 
benevolence ;  no  kindness  or  condescension ;  no  self-denial  or 
sympathy.  Or,  were  there  none  who  could  act  as  angels  of 
mercy,  there  would  be  no  such  thing  as  gratitude,  or  the  feeling 


214          THE  PALACE  OP  THE  GREAT  KING. 

of  obligation  and  dependence  which  does  so  much  to  bind  the 
human  family  into  one  great  brotherhood. 

We  need,  therefore,  indulge  no  painful  concern  that  there 
are  too  many  sorts  of  people  in  the  world.  The  only  concern 
we  need  have  is  that  we  do  our  duties,  each  in  the  place  and 
position  which,  in  the  kind  orderings  of  Providence,  have  been 
assigned  us. 

That  man  deserves  the  most  of  his  country,  and  of  the 
church,  and  of  the  whole  family  of  man,  who  acts  best  his  part 
in  the  sphere  in  which  God  has  placed  him.  The  fact  that  one 
duty  or  one  sphere  of  action  obviously  devolves  on  a  given  indi- 
vidual, and  that  he  has  aptitudes  and  capacities  and  likings 
for  that  particular  field  of  activity,  is  the  best  possible  indica- 
tion which  another  individual,  differently  capacitated,  can  have 
that  he  should  look  for  his  sphere  of  duty  elsewhere.  If  every 
man  did  but  understand  his  own  aptitudes  and  capacities,  and 
were  satisfied  to  act  in  his  own  obviously  destined  sphere,  there 
could  be  no  clashings  of  interests,  no  invasions  of  others'  rights, 
no  intrusions  into  other  men's  departments  of  activity. 

And  we  decide  quite  at  random  when  we  undertake  to  pro- 
nounce on  the  greater  importance  of  one  post  of  duty,  or  one 
sphere  of  action  over  another.  One  may  represent  the  tenth, 
another  the  ten  thousandth  link  in  the  chain  of  the  great 
whole,  yet  strike  out  either  and  the  chain  is  alike  broken. 
With  the  great  Sovereign  Kuler  there  is  neither  great  nor  small 
— every  thing,  as  he  made  and  arranged  it,  is  important — 
nothing  non-essential,  nothing  indifferent. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

ASTRONOMICAL  VARIETIES  :  No  two  "Worlds  alike — Differ  in  Form,  Bulk,  Motion— 
Inhabitants — Moral  Varieties  among  "Worlds — Redemption  the  Grand  Moral  Va- 
riety of  our  World. 

WE  have  no  need  to  confine  our  researches  to  man,  or  to  this 
pitiable  speck  of  earth.  Other  worlds  and  other  beings  afford 
equally  fit  illustrations  of  our  theme.  We  may,  therefore,  for 
the  present  quit  the  footstool  of  the  Great  King,  to  gaze  on  the 
magnificent  dome  of  the  great  Palace.  We  shall  find,  pervad- 
ing the  ten  thousand  sparkling  worlds  that  bestud  the  concave 
of  the  heavens,  the  same  principle  of  endless  diversity.  Varie- 
ty undoubtedly  characterises  every  world  that  shines. 

No  two  suns,  planets  or  satellites  are  alike.  In  shape,  mo- 
tion and  distances  ;  in  velocity,  diversity  and  bulk ;  in  lengths 
of  days,  years,  and  vicissitudes  of  seasons ;  in  climate,  produc- 
tions and  inhabitants ;  in  the  scenery  on  their  respective  sur- 
faces— especially  in  their  celestial  scenery,  and  in  the  different 
appendages  attached  to  them,  as  moons,  rings  or  belts — they 
present  the  most  wonderful  exhibition  of  the  wisdom  and  be- 
nevolence of  God,  in  so  variegating  his  works  as  to  meet  not 
only  the  necessities  of  his  creatures,  but  to  gratify  their  varying 
tastes,  to  please  their  senses  and  make  them  happy. 

No  two  systems  or  clusters  of  systems  are  alike.  They  dif- 
fer in  form,  magnitude,  number  of  revolving  bodies,  and  in  the 


216  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GBEAT  KING. 

mode  of  their  government.  One  is  ruled  by  a  magnificent 
body  in  the  centre,  which  dispenses  light  and  heat  to  the 
whole ;  another  has  two,  three  or  more  centres,  revolving,  each, 
with  its  respective  system  about  another. 

All  the  heavenly  bodies,  as  far  as  we  are  acquainted,  pre- 
sent a  general  uniformity  of  appearance  and  character.  All 
are  spherical,  turn  on  their  axis,  and  revolve  about  a  central 
body.  They  resemble  one  another  in  so  many  respects,  that 
we  do  not  hesitate,  speaking  in  general  terms,  to  call  them  alike. 
And  it  is  from  their  striking  analogies  that  we  deduce  infer- 
ences as  to  the  probability  of  their  being  inhabited,  and 
governed  by  an  internal  economy  similar  to  our  own.  But  we 
shall  find  here  too,  amidst  this  general  uniformity,  an  endless 
variety. 

We  need  not,  at  first,  go  beyond  our  own  solar  system. 
Indeed,  if  our  proposition  be  established  here — if  this  first  fam- 
ily of  the  starry  worlds  be  variegated,  in  the  same  interesting 
manner,  as  we  have  seen  among  terrestrial  objects,  it  will  go 
far  to  establish  a  strong  probability  that  the  same  principle 
runs  through  all  the  magnificent  systems  which  God  has  made. 

The  following,  borrowed  from  Sir  John  Herschel,  may  be 
taken  as  a  just  illustration  of  the  comparative  dimensions,  and 
the  relative  distances  of  the  several  bodies  which  constitute  our 
solar  system :  "  Suppose  a  well  levelled  field  or  bowling  green 
a  mile  or  two  in  extent  and  free  from  all  obstructions.  In  the 
centre  of  this  place  is  a  globe  of  two  feet  in  diameter.  This 
represents  the  sun.  At  a  distance  from  this  of  82  feet,  i.  e., 
on  the  circumference  of  a  circle  of  164  feet  in  diameter,  place 
a  grain  of  mustard  seed.  This  represents  the  planet  Mercury. 
Place  a  pea  for  Venus  on  a  circle  of  284  feet  diameter ;  also  a 


THE    SUN   AND   THE   SOLAE   SYSTEM.  217 

pea  for  this,  our  earth,  on  a  circle  of  430  feet  diameter;  a 
large  pin's  head  on  a  circle  of  654  feet  diameter,  for  Mars : 
grains  of  sand  in  orbits  of  1,000  to  1,200  feet  for  Juno,  Ceres, 
Vesta  and  Pallas.  To  represent  Jupiter,  place  a  moderate 
sized  orange  in  a  circle  nearly  half  a  mile  across ;  Saturn,  a 
small  orange  on  a  circle  four-fifths  of  a  mile ;  and  Uranus,  a 
full  sized  cherry  or  a  small  plum  on  the  circumference  of  a 
circle  more  than  a  mile  and  a  half  in  diameter." 

This,  at  a  mere  glance,  develops  a  pleasing  variety  through- 
out ;  yet  a  few  details  will  throw  over  the  whole  an  additional 
interest.  We  begin  with  the  sun. 

This  differs  from  every  other  individual  of  the  system,  in  its 
enormous  dimensions — it  being  1,000  times  larger  than  Jupi- 
ter, the  largest  planet — 1,300,000  times  larger  than  our  earth, 
and  more  than  500  times  larger  than  all  the  planets,  satellites 
and  comets  belonging  to  our  system ; — in  its  density — it  being 
scarcely  more  than  the  specific  gravity  of  water ;  and  in  its 
being  the  luminous  and  illuminating  body  for  the  whole  sys- 
tem. But  for  this  peculiar  feature  the  whole  system  would  be 
shrouded  in  midnight  darkness.  And  yet  what  makes  this 
variety  the  more  remarkable  is,  that  the  sun,  after  all,  (as  con- 
firmed by  later  discoveries),  is  not  a  luminous  body,  but  an 
opake  globe  like  the  one  we  inhabit,  the  brilliancy  of  its  ap- 
pearance and  its  illuminating  properties,  accompanied  with 
heat,  being  produced  by  its  peculiar  atmosphere. 

From  the  sun,  as  the  grand  centre,  we  direct  our  steps  to 
the  first  planet  in  the  system,  called  MERCURY.  Though  still 
on  a  ball  that  turns  on  its  axis,  and  performs  its  annual  revo- 
lution, is  enlightened  by  the  same  sun,  and  cheered  by  the 

light  of  the  same  planets  by  night,  as  your  native  earth,  yet 
10 


218  THE   PALACE   OF  THE   GREAT   KING. 

you  would  find  yourself  on  a  strange  ball,  differing  from  all 
others  which  revolve  within  the  vast  domains  of  our  sun,  and 
probably  from  any  that  shine  in  all  the  vast  immensity  of  the 
heavens.  The  sun  would  thence  present  a  surface  seven  times 
as  large  as  he  does  to  us,  and  shine  with  a  sevenfold  brightness, 
and,  other  things  equal,  pour  forth  a  sevenfold  intensity  of 
heat.  The  earth  would  appear  as  a  large  star,  and  Venus  as  a 
small  moon,  six  or  seven  times  larger  than  our  morning  and 
evening  star,  giving  to  their  nights  the  mild  radiance  of  moon- 
light. You  would,  too,  find  yourself  on  a  globe  as  dense  as 
lead — flying  round  its  centre  with  a  velocity  greater  than  any 
other  planet — 100,000  miles  per  hour — and  in  a  more  eccentric 
orbit.  Every  object  on  its  surface — every  tree,  shrub,  flower ; 
mountain,  river,  landscape,  would,  from  the  profusion  of  the 
sun's  radiance,  appear  in  sevenfold  splendor — on  which  our 
eyes  might  not  for  a  moment  gaze.  The  inhabitants  of  this 
unique  planet,  too,  must  form  a  distinct  variety.  Physical 
constitutions  like  ours  could  not  exist — or,  if  exist,  could  not 
exercise  their  functions  in  such  an  atmosphere — could  not  see 
in  such  light  or  derive  a  subsistence  from  such  a  soil. 

But  come  with  me  again  and  I  will  show  you  another  star 
differing  from  this  in  glory.  It  is  the  beautiful  and  blushing 
VENUS,  a  brilliant  lamp  amidst  the  lesser  orbs  of  night — sweet 
harbinger  of  the  morn,  or  the  usher  in  of  the  soft  evening  twi- 
light. She  turns  on  her  axis  like  any  other  planet,  and  rolls 
on  in  her  majestic  orbit  at  a  distance  68,000,000  of  miles  from 
the  sun,  yet  as  you  alight  on  her  surface  you  will  find  she 
adds  another  variety  to  the  countless  gems  which  bedeck 
the  heavens.  Venus  is  distinguished  by  the  exceeding  bril- 
liancy and  beauty  of  her  splendor.  Her  light  (twice  that  of 


THE   EAETH   AND   ITS   VARIETIES.  219 

the  earth)  is  so  intense  as  to  be  distinctly  seen  by  the  tele- 
scope, in  the  day  time,  and  "during  the  night  the  eye  is  so 
overpowered  by  its  brilliancy  as  to  prevent  its  surface  and  mar- 
gin from  being  distinctly  perceived."  This  is  not  fully  accounted 
for,  but  on  the  supposition  that  a  great  proportion  of  the  ob- 
jects on  its  surface  are  fitted  to  reflect  the  sun's  rays  with 
peculiar  splendor.  Now  add  to  this  the  fact  (ascertained  by 
telescopic  observations)  that  this  planet  presents  a  most  romantic 
diversity  of  surface — some  of  its  mountains  rising  to  the  enor- 
mous elevation  of  twenty  miles — and  the  whole,  illuminated 
by  such  a  solar  radiance,  exhibiting  a  scenery  diversified  and 
grand  beyond  any  adequate  conception,  and  you  have  a  variety 
worthy  of  admiration. 

The  next  in  order  is  our  EARTH  :  opening  your  eyes  on  its 
celestial  scenery  the  first  peculiarity  you  discover  is,  that  her 
nights  are  beautifully  illuminated  by  a  moon — accompanying 
her  in  all  her  annual  rounds,  and  adding  another  to  the  variety 
which  every  where  characterises  the  countless  bodies  which 
move  through  the  heavens.  The  next  characteristic  peculiarity 
is  the  vast  disproportion  of  land  and  water — three-fourths  of 
the  terraqueous  globe  being  covered  with  water.  Its^surface, 
when  viewed  as  a  whole,  is  divided  into  four  vast  irregular 
belts  or  bands,  extending  north  and-  south,  the  two  broadest 
of  which  are  water.  Though,  perhaps,  not  of  original  struc- 
ture, but  a  result  of  the  Deluge  and  a  consequence  of  sin,  yet 
this  peculiarity  distinguishes  our  planet  from  every  other.  No 
planet  presents  so  variegated  a  surface — none  so  completely 
intersected,  and  cut  up  into  continents,  islands,  oceans,  seas, 
lakes,  rivers,  mountains,  plains.  And,  aside  from  many  origi- 
nal peculiarities  of  structure,  the  earth  has  been  marred  and 


220         THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

mutilated  by  the  ravages  of  sin,  presenting,  we  hope,  the 
melancholy  pre-eminence  of  being  the  only  world  groaning  un- 
der the  malediction  of  its  benevolent  Author. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons.  In 
their  existing  state  they  produce  an  almost  endless  variety  of 
beauty — and  also  of  disaster  and  deformity.  The  horrors  of 
winter ;  the  scorchings  of  heat ;  desolating  tornadoes ;  appal- 
ling thunder  storms,  come  in  the  revolutions  of  the  seasons,  as 
well  as  the  beauty  and  fragrance  of  the  spring,  or  the  luxuri- 
ance of  summer,  or  the  bounties  of  autumn.  Those  desolating 
evils  are,  again,  the  sad  peculiarities  of  the  physical  and  moral 
derangement  of  our  world,  and  probably  of  no  other. 

One  stride  more,  of  5.0,000,000  of  miles  from  the  orbit  of 
the  earth,  and  you  stand  on  fiery  MARS.  Its  surface  is  diversi- 
fied with  land  and  water ;  its  seasons  similar  to  ours,  though 
more  strongly  marked,  and  nearly  twice  as  long ;  yet  if  you 
will  look  a  little  further  you  may  see  how  Mars  differs  from 
our  ball,  and  from  all  the  shining  spheres  that  bespangle  the 
skies.  She  is  in  size  but  half  as  large,  and  in  density  consid- 
erably less  than  the  earth.  An  extensive  and  strangely  dense 
atmosphere  surrounds  her,  producing  the  red  and  fiery  appear- 
ance which  she  exhibits,  like  the  rising  or  setting  sun  when 
seen  through  vapors.  Only  about  one-third  of  her  surface  is 
water.  She  receives  from  the  sun  not  more  than  half  the 
quantity  of  light  enjoyed  by  the  earth,  and  no  moon  (yet  dis- 
covered) enlightens  her  dreary  nights. 

But  we  must  hasten  our  ethereal  journey.  We  next  meet, 
amidst  the  flying  balls  of  ether,  a  singular  variety.  Having 
traversed  80,000,000  of  miles  from  Mars  we  meet,  within  the 
distance  of  the  next  41,000,000  of  miles  four  very  small  plan- 


THE   ASTEROIDS   AND  MIGHTY  JUPITER.  221 

ets  called  asteroids,  and  named  Vesta,  Juno,  Ceres,  and  Pallas. 
Their  diminutive  size,  their  proximity  to  one  another,  and  their 
vast  distance  from  the  sun,  form  an  interesting  variety  in  the 
garniture  of  the  heavens.  Their  orbits  are  more  eccentric  and 
more  inclined  to  the  ecliptic  than  the  other  planets,  and  their 
seasons,  of  course,  more  strongly  marked.  And  what  is  more 
singular,  their  orbits  cross  one  another — the  orbit  of  Vesta  even 
crossing  those  of  the  other  three,  rendering  it  possible  that  in 
their  annual  rounds  they  may  come  in  collision,  with  an  em- 
brace that  shall  shatter  them  into  a  thousand  atoms.  In  many 
respects  this  dwarfish  family  of  worlds  presents  anomalies  ex- 
ceedingly interesting  to  our  present  subject. 

Next  in  order  comes  mighty  JUPITER,  rolling  on  in  magnifi- 
cent grandeur  at  the  immense  distance  of  495,000,000  of  miles 
from  the  sun,  and  occupying  twelve  of  our  years  in  completing 
one  circuit.  In  vain  you  distend  your  vision  to  find  another 
like  him.  A  body  of  such  immense  magnitude — 1,400  times 
larger  than  the  earth ;  at  such  an  enormous  distance  from  the 
sun  which  holds  him  in  his  place ;  wheeling  in  his  orbit  at  the 
rate  of  30,000  miles  an  hour ;  and  turning  on  his  axis  in  nine 
hours  (the  length  of  his  day)  ;  carrying  along  with  him  four 
moons ;  and  capable  of  sustaining  a  population  8,700  times 
greater  than  our  earth — presents  a  novel  spectacle,  wonderful 
and  sublime  ;  and  affords  a  most  magnificent  specimen  of  the 
riches  and  wisdom  of  Heaven's  great  Architect. 

But  Jupiter  presents  another  feature  yet  more  novel  and 
grand,  and  more  peculiarly  his  own.  He  is  encased  in  a 
singular  appendage  of  belts  or  bands,  which  surround  him  at 
an  elevation  (it  is  supposed)  of  1,000  miles  from  the  planet. 
These  belts  are  from  5,000  to  10,000  in  breadth,  extending 


222  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

quite  across  the  planet.  They  have  been  discovered  to  ex- 
change places,  or  to  move  from  one  position  to  another  in  the 
space  of  a  few  hours,  producing  the  most  stupendous  changes 
in  the  celestial  scenery  of  that  planet ;  diversifying  the  face  of 
their  skies  in  a  manner  wholly  inconceivable  to  us.  This, 
together  with  the  singular  and  rapid  motions  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  as  seen  from  Jupiter,  on  account  of  the  inconceivably 
great  velocity  with  which  he  turns  on  his  axis  (moving  further, 
by  3,000  miles,  in  one  hour  than  the  earth  does  in  twenty-four), 
must  make  a  nocturnal  scene  on  that  planet  grand  beyond 
conception.  Though  so  distant  that  the  sun  appears  scarcely 
more  than  a  brilliant  star,  yet  Jupiter  presents  a  peculiar 
splendor,  exceeding  in  brilliancy  even  Mars.  This  is  no  doubt 
owing  to  other  apparatus  for  the  production  of  light,  of  which 
those  belts  may  be  the  principal. 

But  let  us  look  in  upon  the  next  world,  and  see  what  of 
variety  we  may  find  there.  Let  imagination  traverse  4.00,- 
000,000  of  miles  from  Jupiter,  and  you  meet,  rolling  on  in  the 
lone  grandeur  of  his  velocity,  and  in  the  illimitable  immensity 
of  space,  the  most  interesting  and  magnificent  body  which 
shines  in  the  heavens.  There  is  nothing  like  it  in  the  firma- 
ment. It  has  seven  moons — a  rare  variety.  But  what  singles 
out  SATURN  as  so  unique  in  the  celestial  canopy  and  makes 
him  so  striking  a  specimen  of  variety  in  the  Divine  workman- 
ship, is  the  extraordinary  RINGS  which  surround  him.  Belts 
too  he  has,  yet  differing  from  Jupiter's  in  this,  that  they  are 
regular  and  immovable ;  doubtless  an  integral  part  of  the 
planet. 

But  you  pass  unnoticed  all  other  varieties :  his  encircling 
belts ;  his  seven  moons,  pouring  down  their  silvery  floods  of 


SATUEN   AND    HIS   SINGULAE   BELTS.  223 

light ;  his  huge  bulk,  and  his  density  not  more  than  that  of 
cork ;  his  immense  distance  from  the  sun,  so  that  that  lumi- 
nary appears  but  as  a  star,  ninety  times  less  than  to  us  ;  his  im- 
mense year,  equal  to  more  than  twenty-nine  of  ours,  and  his 
days  of  but  ten  hours,  and  your  whole  attention  is  directed  to 
the  strange  phenomenon  of  the  Rings.  You  see  stretching 
from  horizon  to  horizon  across  the  whole  arch  of  the  firmament 
large  semicircles  of  light,  occupying  one-fourth  or  one-fifth  of 
the  visible  sky.  They  vary  in  brilliancy  according  to  the 
time  when  viewed,  or  the  position  from  which  seen.  At  night 
they  appear  as  resplendent  as  the  moon ;  in  the  day  time  dim 
like  a  cloudy  arch. 

To  enhance  the  beauty  and  sublimity  of  the  scene,  and  to 
add  to  all  an  enchanting  variety,  these  immense  rings  (200,000 
miles  in  diameter  and  one  20,000  in  breadth)  roll  round  the 
planet  at  the  distance  of  30,000  miles,  in  the  short  space  of 
ten  hours,  presenting  their  diversified  brilliancy.  And  what 
still  enhances  the  grandeur  of  the  scene,  the  two  rings  do  not 
revolve  in  the  same  space  of  time,  giving  to  the  whole  a  yet 
greater  variety  of  motion,  as  well  as  a  constant  succession  of 
scenery.  What  variety,  then,  in  the  celestial  scenery  of 
Saturn !  Two  immense  luminous  arches,  diversified  by  their 
own  motions,  and  at  night  more  diversified  by  carrying 
stamped  upon  them  the  shadow  of  Saturn ;  the  various  aspects 
of  seven  moons,  some  rising,  some  setting,  some  at  their 
meridian,  some  appearing  as  crescents,  half  moons,  or  full 
enlightened  hemispheres,  some  eclipsed,  others  emerging  from 
their  dark  beds,  and  all  moving  with  tremendous  velocity,  give 
to  this  planet  a  character  of  its  own. 

We  must  not  stop  to  speculate  on^  the  use  of  these  things. 


224  THE  PALACE   OF   THE   GKEAT   KING. 

They  not  only  contribute  a  magnificent  variety  to  the  crown 
jewels  of  the  Great  King,  but  afford  a  stupendous  theatre  for  the 
existence  and  development  of  a  countless  number  of  intelligent 
beings.  The  whole  amount  of  surface  on  the  different  sides  of 
the  rings  is  more  than  twenty-eight  billion  square  miles,  or 
588  times  the  area  of  the  whole  habitable  portion  of  the  earth. 
Now  if  we  suppose  these  immense  celestial  territories  to  be 
inhabited  (a  very  probable  supposition,  for  who  would  surmise 
that  such  a  palace  would  be  fitted  up  for  waste  and  desola- 
tion ?)  they  could  accommodate  a  population  of  eight  billions, 
or  10,000  times  the  present  population  of  our  globe. 

A  word  concerning  URANUS,  and  our  survey  of  the  solar 
system  is  completed.  On  the  orbit  of  Saturn,  though  at  the 
distance  of  900,000,000  miles  from  our  starting  point,  the  sun, 
yet  we  had  completed  but  one  half  of  our  journey  to  Uranus, 
the  exterior  ball  of  our  system.  Its  distance  is,  of  course, 
1,800,000,000  miles ;  a  distance,  which,  if  traversed  by  a 
steam-carriage  moving  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  miles  an  hour 
would  occupy  10,000  years.  Here  the  sun  has  dwindled 
almost  to  a  point,  yet  Uranus  enjoys  a  compensation  of  six 
moons,  is  eighty  times  larger  than  our  earth,  twenty  times 
larger  than  all  the  planets  of  the  solar  system,  save  Jupiter 
and  Saturn ;  is  of  a  density  not  greater  than  water ;  moving 
in  its  inconceivably  great  orbit  more  slowly  and  majestically 
than  any  other  planet,  and  occupying  in  the  completion  of  his 
year  no  less  than  eighty-four  of  ours. 

These  circumstances — and  others  might  be  discovered  did 
our  telescopes  reach  far  enough — are  sufficient  to  ensure  a 
great  variety  of  scenery,  in  seasons,  animals,  inhabitants ; 


A  SURVEY  BEYOND  THE  SOLAR  SYSTEM.       225 

in  productions  and  climate ;  and  to  distinguish  this  planet 
from  all  others  in  the  system. 

I  have  now  taken  a  bird's-eye  view  of  each  of  the  worlds 
(the  new  planets  excepted)  which  compose  our  system.  •  We 
have  found  no  two  alike,  but  each  most  skilfully  diversified 
with  a  beauty,  sublimity  and  grandeur  peculiarly  its  own.  In 
shape,  motion,  distance;  in  velocity,  density  and  bulk;  in 
length  of  days,  of  years  and  vicissitudes  of  seasons ;  in  climate, 
productions  and  inhabitants ;  in  the  scenery  on  their  respective 
surfaces,  and  more  especially  in  their  celestial  scenery ;  and  in 
the  singular  appendages,  useful  or  ornamental,  attached  to 
most  of  them,  we  have  discovered  the  most  wonderful  exhibi- 
tion of  the  wisdom  and  benevolence  of  God  in  so  variegating 
the  works  of  his  hands  as  to  meet  not  only  the  necessities  of  his 
creatures,  but  to  gratify  their  ever-varying  tastes,  to  please 
their  senses,  and  to  make  them  happy  in  their  present  state 
of  being. 

I  am  now  prepared  to  invite  you  to  embark  on  a  more  ad- 
venturous excursion,  and,  by  a  legitimate  analogy,  to  extend 
the  principle  I  am  advocating  to  other  systems  and  other  clus- 
ters of  systems,  which  constitute  the  boundless  universe. 

Look,  if  you  please,  through  Sir  John  Herschel's  forty-feet 
telescope,  pointed  for  a  survey  beyond  the  confines  of  our 
planetary  system,  and  tell  me  what  you  see : 

"  I  see,"  says  one,  "  stars  of  different  magnitudes  be- 
spangling the  whole  compass  of  vision,  some  exceedingly 
bright,  some,  but  as  the  twinkling  of  a  single  ray  of  light." 

"  But  what  a  variegated  scene,"  says  another  who  applies 
his  eye.  "  How  one  star  differeth  from  another  in  glory ! 
10* 


226  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GKEAT   KING. 

Star  after  star  appears  as  you  steadily  gaze,  till  the  \\hole  field 
of  vision  becomes  a  sparkling  sheet  of  worlds ! " 

"  And  what,"  exclaims  another  who  has  distended  the  pupil 
of  his  eye  a  little  further  than  the  rest,  "  what  are  those  little 
luminous  clouds,  or  concentrations  of  confused  light,  which  lie 
scattered  in  rich  profusion  throughout  the  entire  compass  of 
vision  ?  " 

"  Indeed,"  exclaims  another  in  extasy  intense,  "  do  you 
see  that  these  sparkling  luminaries  not  only  differ  in  dimen- 
sions, distances  and  motions,  but  they  present  an  exquisite 
variety  of  color.  Here  is  one  red  like  crimson  ;  yonder  shines 
one  white  as  snow.  One  is  yellow,  another  green  ;  one  orange, 
its  neighbor  blue.  Others  blending  the  hues  of  different 
colors  produce  scenery  rich,  variegated  and  enchanting." 

And  another,  too  intent  to  speak  sooner,  exclaims  in 
all  the  enthusiasm  of  a  Newton,  "  Is  it  possible  that  certain 
stars  at  which  I  have  been  gazing  are  not  single  stars.  I  have 
put  on  the  magnifying  power  till  I  can  see  them  to  be  double, 
triple,  quadruple  or  multiple." 

A  world  of  wonders  indeed ! — but  let  us  go  back  and  ex- 
amine a  little  more  leisurely,  though  briefly. 

You  saw  scattered  over  the  field  of  space  an  indefinite  num- 
ber of  stars.  These  are  suns,  accompanied  no  doubt  by  their 
respective  systems  of  planets  or  worlds ;  each  occupying  as 
much  space  in  the  great  field  of  ether,  and  giving  support  and 
habitation  to  as  great  a  number  of  intelligent  beings,  and 
affording  as  great  a  variety  of  plans,  operations,  uses  and 
scenery,  as  the  system  we  have  examined.  The  nearest  of 
these  stars,  or  suns,  is  not  less,  as  has  been  ascertained,  than 
twenty  billions  of  miles  ;  a  distance  greater  than  we  can  con- 


DOUBLE  STAKS  AND  DOUBLE  SYSTEMS.        227 

ceive.  If  such  be  the  distance  which  divides  the  different  solar 
systems  which  make  up  the  universe,  we  here  gain  some  idea, 
though  it  is  bewildering,  of  the  amplitude  of  the  field  on  which 
God  has  chosen  to  display  his  wisdom  and  the  riches  of  his 
"  manifold  works." 

An"  extraordinary  development  of  modern  astronomy  (and 
one  much  to  our  present  purpose),  is  the  resolving  of  a  great 
number  of  stars  (supposed  for  centuries  to  be  single)  into  two, 
three,  four,  or  many.  So  immensely  remote  are  these  stars 
that  when  viewed  by  the  naked  eye,  or  through  an  ordinary 
instrument,  their  light  appears  blended,  yet  when  plied  by 
some  modern  telescopes  are  found  to  be  separated  by  a  space 
by  no  means  small.  But  why  I  direct  attention  to  these  stars 
is  to  point  out  a  singular  phenomenon — another  grand  and  in- 
teresting variety  in  the  sidereal  heavens.  The  characteristic  of 
the  solar  system  we  found  to  be  that  of  one  magnificent  body 
in  the  centre,  dispensing  light  and  heat  to  a  great  number  of 
other  immense  bodies  over  which  it  has  a  supreme  control  to 
sustain  them  in  their  respective  orbits.  But  as  we  pass  on  to 
other  suns  and  systems  of  worlds,  we  are  agreeably  surprised  to 
meet  with  a  different  order  of  arrangement  and  government. 
Instead  of  one  sun  ift  the  centre,  about  which  all  are  borne  in 
solitary  grandeur,  we  here  meet  with  a  double  system,  having 
two  suns,  each  revolving  about  the  other,  and  bearing  with 
them  their  respective  systems  of  planets  and  satellites.  Again, 
three  suns,  with  a  triple  system,  are  seen  wending  their  way 
around  each  other,  and  about  a  common  centre : — or  four,  or 
more,  interweaving  their  respective  orbits,  speeding  their  courses 
about  one  another,  with  motions  the  most  complicated  and 


228          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

novel,  and  conducting  in  their  several  trains  hundreds  of 
worlds. 

This  transcends  our  utmost  surmisings  on  the  subject  of 
motion.  All  we  have  seen  in  the  solar  system  is  but  the  sim- 
plicity of  a  right  line  compared  with  the  complexity  of  motion 
in  these  triple,  quadruple  and  multiple  systems.  A  new  ma- 
thematical problem,  transcending  the  vastest  powers  of  human 
intellect — perhaps  of  angelic — must  be  solved  before  we  may 
do  more  than  wonder,  praise  and  adore  Him  who  "  in  the 
heights  of  heaven  doeth  great  things  past  finding  out,  yea,  and 
wonders  without  number."  How  these  several  systems,  com- 
posed of  so  many  different  bodies,  can  be  so  nicely  poised  in 
mid  space  in  relation  to  another  and  to  the  common  centre — 
how  their  antagonist  forces  can  be  so  nicely  adjusted  as  to  curb 
every  ball  in  its  destined  path,  and  to  preserve  the  safety  and 
harmony  of  the  whole,  beggars  all  human  sapience  to  divine. 

Nor  is  this  all :  astronomical  observations  have  developed 
facts  in  reference  to  the  velocities  of  these  suns  and  systems 
so  surpassing  any  thing  of  the  kind  in  the  solar  system  as  to 
make  it  a  sublime  and  terrific  peculiarity  of  these  stars.  The 
60,000  miles  an  hour  by  which  the  earth  moves  in  his  orbit, 
or  the  100,000  of  Mercury  is  but  an  item  in  the  incredible,  in- 
conceivable velocity  with  which  these  double  and  triple  stars 
are  found  to  move  about  one  another. 

They  have,  too,  another  peculiarity:  in  almost  every  in- 
stance they  vary  in  color.  One  is  white,  its  companion  red. 
One  orange  or  green,  its  fellow  yellow,  or  blue,  ruddy,  greenish 
or  bluish.  What  an  endless,  what  a  beautiful  variety  of 
scenery  must  this  produce  on  the  surfaces  of  the  different 
planets  which  are  enlightened  by  these  suns }  One  hemisphere 


LUMINOUS   SPECKS,    OR  STAE  DUST.  229 

of  a  globe  illuminated  by  a  red  star,  the  other  by  a  green  one ! 
A  sun  of  a  brilliant  white  rising  in  the  east,  while  another  of  a 
ruby  hue  is  sinking  below  the  horizon  in  the  west,  each  send- 
ing up  rays  of  his  peculiar  color,  and  blending  hues  in"  the 
most  agreeable  and  tasteful  manner  !  What  beautiful  changes, 
contrasts  and  varieties  must  be  produced  by  the  various  revo- 
lutions, at  their  different  distances  and  various  angles  of  in- 
clination, of  two,  three  or  four  suns  of  so  many  different 
colors. 

I  name  one  other  variety  under  this  head :  As  you  looked 
through  the  telescope,  you  saw  certain  objects,  more  or  less 
distinct,  which  appeared  like  small  luminous  clouds.  But  on 
increasing  the  power  of  the  instrument  you  found  this  cloud 
to  be  resolvable  into  stars — and  beyond  this,  other  similar 
clouds,  which,  with  a  larger  telescope  would,  no  doubt,  be 
resolvable  in  the  same  manner.  Such  observations  have  con- 
vinced astronomers  that  the  millions  of  millions  of  stars  which 
fill  immensity  are  not  scattered  at  random,  or  diffused  in 
space,  but  collected  into  clusters.  How  numerous  these 
clusters  are,  is  beyond  the  ken  of  human  wisdom  to  tell. 
Space  seems  to  be  full  of  them.  Or  how  many  myriads 
on  myriads  of  stars  are  contained  in  a  single  cluster  is  as  yet 
beyond  human  calculation.  Every  new  magnifying  power  in- 
troduces us  to  new  clusters — and  beyond  these  there  still  remain 
luminous  specks,  or  star  dust,  which,  no  doubt,  a  larger  instru- 
ment would  equally  resolve. 

Here  we  gain  an  idea  of  the  amplitude  and  magnificence 
— to  us,  the  infinitude — of  the  works  of  the  Almighty  hand, 
which  baffles  the  powers  of  the  most  vivid  imagination. 
We  think  now  no  more  to  count  the  suns  or  systems — we 


230  THE   PALACE    OP   THE   GKEAT  KING. 

take  no  further  note  of  planets  like  Saturn  or  Jupiter,  but 
launch  our  adventurous  bark  into  the  interminable  ocean  of 
space,  and  survey  and  attempt  to  number  only  clusters  of  sys- 
temst  some  of  which  are  known  to  contain  many  millions  of 
stars. 

The  first  of  these  magnificent  groups,  demanding  atten- 
tion, is  the  one  to  which  our  solar  system  belongs,  called  the 
Galaxy  or  Milky- Way.  It  is  a  broad  irregular  belt  or  zone 
stretching  across  the  heavens  from  one  end  of  the  firmament  to 
the  other — 

"A  broad  and  ample  road  whose  dust  is  gold, 
And  pavement  stars,  as  stars  to  us  appear. ; 
Seen  in  the  Galaxy,  that  Milky-Way, 
Like  to  a-  circling  zone  powdered  with  stars." 

To  the  naked  eye  it  presents  little  more  than  a  confused 
light,  yet  when  plied  by  a  large  telescope,  the  confusion  van- 
ishes, and  its  place  is  filled  by  thousands  of  glittering  suns. 
In  a  field  of  view,  not  above  the  fourth  part  of  the  apparent 
size  of  the  moon,  Herschel  distinguished  more  than  500  stars, 
and  during  15  minutes  of  time,  there  passed  the  vision  of  his 
telescope  no  less  than  116,000.  He  estimates  the  probable 
number  of  stars  in  this  cluster  to  be  20,000,000.  Yet  does  not 
suppose  this  to  be  so  large  as  some  others. 

The  whole  field  of  space  which  has  been  traversed  by  the 
best  telescopes  is  500  times  further  than  the  distance  to  the 
nearest  fixed  star,  or  10,000  billions  miles  ;  a  distance  which, 
if  passed  over  by  a  cannon  ball  at  the  rate  of  500  miles 
an  hour,  would  occupy  2,200  millions  years.  Within  this 
vast  area,  which  may  be  but  the  vestibule  of  the  Universe, 
there  have  been  discovered  no  less  than  3,000  of  these 


VAEIETIES   OF    CLUSTERS    OF   SUNS.  231 

nebula  or  clusters  of  suns,  some  apparently  more,  some  less 
magnificent  and  extensive  than  the  Milky- Way.  Suppose 
them  on  an  average  to  be  equal  and  each  to  be  accompanied  by 
50  planets,  we  have  enclosed  within  telescopic  vision  3  billions 
of  worlds,  a  number  of  which  we  can  form  no  adequate  con- 
ception. But  it  is  not  so  much  the  surpassing  grandeur  of 
this  scene  as  the  variety  to  which  I  would  guide  your  attention. 

In  form,  dimensions,  motions,  and  general  appearance,  no 
two  of  these  clusters  are  alike.  Many  are  globular  with  a 
concentration  of  light  near  the  centre.  Some  are  conical,  or 
triangular,  or  oval ;  round,  elliptical,  annular  or  shaped  like 
luminous  rings ;  and  others  like  an  ellipsis  with  a  dark  spot 
in  the  centre.  "  Their  situation  and  shape,"  says  Herschel, 
"  as  well  as  their  condition,  seem  to  denote  the  greatest  va- 
riety imaginable.  In  another  stratum,  or  perhaps  in  a  dif- 
ferent branch  of  the  same,  I  have  seen  double  and  treble  ne- 
bula, variously  arranged ;  large  ones  with  small,  seemingly 
attendants ;  narrow  but  much  extended  lucid  nebula,  or 
brighter  dashes;  some  of  the  shape  of  a  fan,  resembling  an 
electric  brush,  issuing  from  a  lucid  point ;  others  in  the  shape 
of  a  comet,  with  a  seeming  nucleus  in  the  centre,  or  like  cloudy 
stars  surrounded  with  a  nebulous  atmosphere." 

Some  appear  in  strata  of  great  length  and  breadth,  but  of 
little  thickness  ;  others  present  every  irregularity  of  form  that 
can  be  imagined.  Some  have  a  bright  star  near  their  centre  ; 
others  have  bright  stars  in  other  portions  of  them — and  a  few 
appear  as  a  stream  of  luminous  matter,  with  a  brilliant  star  at 
each  extremity.  Indeed  there  is  scarcely  an  imaginable  shape 
in  which  you  do  not  find  some  of  these  clusters. 

What,  then,  is  the  conclusion  ?     Surely  that  variety  is  a 


232         THE  PALACE  OP  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

universal  characteristic  throughout  the  vast  domains  of  the 
Eternal  King.  Take  a  cursory  retrospect  of  the  whole,  and 
you  see  that  the  very  structure  and  operation  of  the  vast  and 
complicated  machine  involve  a  perpetual  variety  ;  moons  re- 
volve about  planets ;  planets  about  suns ;  suns  and  systems 
about  suns  and  systems ;  clusters  of  systems  about  their  com- 
mon centres ;  and  then  (grand  beyond  all  human  conception) 
these  mighty  clusters,  rolling  on,  as  one  system,  with  incon- 
ceivable grandeur,  and  in  an  orbit  that  beggars  all  arithmetic 
to  calculate  or  the  loftiest  imagination  to  compass,  rolling  on, 
about  the  great  centre  of  ten  thousand  centres — about  the  cap- 
ital of  Jehovah's  boundless  domains — about  the  throne  of  the 
Eternal  Mind.  What  variety  of  motions,  distances,  velocities 
— what  variegated  scenery — what  diversified  results  must  such 
stupendous  and  varied  operations  produce ! 

But  we  must  no  longer  linger  amidst  the  principalities  and 
powers,  the  kingdoms  and  dominions  of  the  only  Potentate. 
The  rich  garniture  of  the  heavens  affords  other  illustrations  of 
variety  no  less  interesting  than  those  already  given,  as  comets, 
meteors,  planetary  nebula,  variable  stars  ;  but  time  fails. 

Again,  the  countless  myriads  of  intelligent  beings,  who, 
doubtless,  inhabit  the  unnumbered  worlds  of  Jehovah's  empire, 
afford  another  series  of  varieties  most  extensive  and  interesting. 
No  two  worlds,  we  have  seen,  are  fitted  to  be  the  abode  of  the 
same  species  of  beings.  Neither  their  physical  conformation, 
nor  their  mental  constitution  can  be  the  same.  But  this  must 
pass. 

Yet  I  apprehend  we  differ  from  the  tenants  of  other  worlds 
in  nothing  so  conspicuously  as  in  our  moral  condition.  This 
is  our  inglorious  distinction.  Here  is  the  mark  which  makes 


THE  MOKAL  APOSTASY  OF  OUB  VARIETY.       233 

us  the  wonder  of  angels,  and  the  scorn  of  devils.  The  moral 
apostasy,  together  with  the  mysterious  plan  of  recovery,  may 
be  the  humiliating — the  glorious  distinction  of  our  world.  It 
may  be  peculiar  to  our  planet  that  here  alone  the  subjects  of 
God  have  rebelled — and  here  alone  is  shown  the  possibility,  and 
the  practicability  of  restoring  them  to  the  favor  of  the  abused 
Sovereign.  All  eyes  are  turned  on  us ;  now  in  deep  and 
solemn  commiseration  over  man's  ruin ;  now  in  admiration  of 
the  scheme  of  restoration ;  and  now  in  praise  and  adoration  at 
the  final  consummation  of  man's  redemption.  The  whole  is  to 
be  regarded  as  a  signal  display  of  the  Divine  perfections. 
The  scheme  here  filling  up  for  restoring  rebels  is  one  way, 
which  God  has  selected  by  which  to  develop  his  eternal  power 
and  Godhead.  In  other  worlds,  moral  transactions,  of  a  char- 
acter of  which  we  can  form  no  just  conception,  may  be  trans- 
piring, as  sublime,  as  characteristic  of  the  sleepless  energies 
of  Omnipotence,  as  honorable  to  his  moral  perfections,  and  as 
beneficial  to  the  vast  assemblage  of  his  creatures,  as  the  plan 
adopted  here  for  the  emancipation  of  man. 

I  know  not  that  we  have  any  just  ground  for  the  self-gratu- 
lating  surmise,  that  the  Universal  Sovereign  has  made  our  in- 
significant ball,  peculiarly,  a  theatre  of  his  marvellous  works. 
That  He  has,  in  the  scheme  of  redemption,  wrought  marvels 
here,  inscrutable  by  human  ken,  is  past  all  controversy.  Yet 
that  he  is  not  the  Author  of  wonders  as  profound  and  magnifi- 
cent, as  unsearchable  and  glorious,  in  other  worlds,  I  know  not 
that  we  may  question.  Nay,  more :  the  fact  that  he  is  the 
Author  of  such  a  stupendous  transaction  in  this  comparatively 
insignificant  speck  of  creation,  is  rather  a  presumption  that  he 
may  be  the  Author  of  as  grand  (if  possible)  and  sublime  trans- 


234  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

actions  in  the  mightier,  nobler,  more  majestic  worlds  and  sys- 
tems, which  compose  the  numberless  provinces  of  his  empire. 
But  for  our  moral  degradation — our  loss  of  the  capabilities 
and  susceptibilities  of  our  state  of  primeval  innocence,  we 
might  perhaps  be  favored  by  an  acquaintance  with  the  dis- 
tinguishing moral  achievements  which  characterize  the  history 
of  other  worlds.  Other  worlds,  we  know,  are  acquainted  with  our 
moral  disasters,  and  with  the  interposing  hand  of  compassion 
for  our  restoration.  "Into  these  things  angels  desire  to  look." 
Beings  of  other  worlds  are  intently  eager  to  survey  and  scruti- 
nize this  extraordinary  transaction.  So  well  do  they  know  the 
ruin  of  man's  present  moral  condition,  and  so  well  appreciate 
the  blessedness  of  reconciliation  with  God  that  an  acclamation 
of  joy  is  heard  among  them,  when  but  "one  sinner  repents." 
The  Apostle  Paul,  too,  represents  the  mystery  of  redemption  as 
revealed  to  the  intent  that  unto  principalities  and  powers  in 
heavenly  places,  might  be  made  known,  by  the  Church,  the  mani- 
fold wisdom  of  God."  Our  planet  was  selected  as  a  theatre  on 
which  to  exhibit  to  all  worlds  the  evil  of  sin — its  origin,  its 
growth  and  full  development — that  the  "man  of  sin  be  re- 
vealed"— be  manifested  and  shown  out  in  all  the  strength  and 
luxuriance  of  its  native  vileness :  and,  on  the  other  hand,  to 
afford  a  signal  illustration  of  the  perfections  of  the  Divine 
character,  in  the  atonement  made  and  applied  to  save  man. 
Redemption  is,  therefore,  the  grand  moral  variety  which  distin- 
guishes our  world  from  all  others.  Hence,  it  is  an  object  of 
absorbing  interest  to  the  tenants  of  all  other  worlds.  Yet  the 
annals  of  other  worlds  may  unfold  to  our  astonished  vision 
transactions  as  peculiar  and  grand,  and  as  beautifully  and  aw- 
fully illustrative  of  the  Divine  perfections  in  some  other  inter- 


THE   GRANDEUR   OF   THE   ETERNAL   THRONE.  235 

esting  point  of  view.  And,  were  we  possessed  of  the  data 
which  Gabriel  may  have,  we  might  go  on  from  world  to  world, 
and  from  system  to  system  as  we  have  already  done,  pointing 
out  as  many  moral  varieties  in  the  Divine  dispensation  as  we 
have  seen  physical  diversities  in  the  manifold  works  of  Na- 
ture. 

Enough  has  been  adduced  in  illustration  of  my  principle. 
Variety  is  the  characteristic  of  Divine  workmanship.  Whether 
you  look  into  the  vast  and  mighty  fabrics  which  roll  in  clus- 
tered grandeur  around  the  Eternal  Throne,  or  to  the  myriads 
of  animalcula,  which  revel  in  all  the  luxury  of  life  in  a  single 
drop  of  water,  or  on  a  single  leaf,  you  meet  a  never-ending 
variety. 

But  it  is  time  that  I  close.  Yet  a  few  reflections  rush  un- 
bidden upon  us. 

1.  What  an  idea  does  this  give  us  of  Gfod?  With  but  a 
partial  view  of  the  multiplicity,  the  grandeur  and  variety  of 
his  works,  we  can  but  stand  afar  off,  and  in  awful  astonish- 
ment and  in  overwhelming  majesty,  cover  our  face,  and  with 
the  sweet  singer  of  Israel  exclaim,  0  Lord  my  God,  thou  art 
very  great !  What  view  so  displays  the  magnificence  of  the 
Divine  Being  ?  We  can  scarcely  comprehend  that  even  Om- 
nipotence could  construct  so  many  and  such  enormous  masses  of 
matter — reduce  them  to  order  and  govern  them.  But  when  we 
see  in  what  an  endless  variety  he  has  made  all  things,  our  ad- 
miration of  his  greatness  is  raised  still  higher.  It  were  much 
that  he  should  clothe  the  meadow  with  a  carpet  of  green,  and 
adorn  the  trees  with  a  verdant  foliage :  but  much  more  that 
he  should  variegate  this  covering  in  ten  thousand  different 
shapes  and  colors  and  patterns. 


236  THE  PALACE   OF   THE   GKEAT   KING. 

Again,  what  an  idea  does  our  subject  give  us  of  the  riches 
of  God  1  You  call  that  man  rich,  who  has  many  and  large 
storehouses,  filled  with  every  thing  which  can  administer  to 
his  necessities  or  his  pleasures.  But  God's  storehouses  are  as 
many  as  there  are  worlds  in  the  universe — all  filled  with  arti- 
cles of  the  most  exquisite  workmanship,  and  in  such  infinite 
variety  that  you  cannot  find  two  insects,  or  sands,  or  leaves,  or 
flowers,  or  worlds  alike. 

What  an  idea  does  it  give  us  of  his  goodness  !  Why  has  he 
filled  the  universe  with  his  riches-j-why  so  garnished  the  heav- 
ens— variegated  all  nature  and  clothed  all  things  in  beauty 
and  sweetness  ?  if  it  be  not  to  display  the  plenitude  of  his  be- 
nevolence and  to  contribute  to  the  well-being  of  his  creatures. 
Not  only  does  he  open  to  them  inexhaustible  fountains  of 
pleasure,  but  he  so  diversifies  their  pleasures  that  they  never 
tire. 

And  what  an  idea,  too,  here,  of  the  Divine  wisdom  !  Sur- 
veying the  manifold  works  of  God,  who  would  not  exclaim, 
"  in  wisdom  hast  thou  made  them  all"  But  numerous  and 
variegated  as  they  are,  nothing  is  useless.  All  is  beautifully 
adapted  to  its  purpose. 

What  skill  in  producing  and  conducting  all  the  operations 
needful  to  effect  such  endless  variety ! — what  inscrutable  wisdom 
and  knowledge  in  so  accurately  calculating  distances,  motions, 
inclinations,  positions,  weights  and  bulk, — so  nicely  to  adjust 
globes  of  such  various  dimensions,  (some  inconceivably  large 
and  at  immense  distances,  some  with  strange  appendages  of 
moons,  belts  or  rings,)  and  so  accurately  to  poise  them  as  to 
secure  their  stability  and  permanence,  and  to  make  them  fit 
habitations  for  intelligent  beings !  Were  we  to  contemplate 


THE   MATHEMATICAL   CALCULATIONS.  237 

no  more  than  the  mathematical  calculations  which  must  enter 
into  the  account,  there  is  indicated  a  depth  and  dimensions  of 
intellect  of  which  we  can  form  no  conception.  Suppose  the  in- 
tellect of  some  created  being  to  be  vast  enough  accurately  to 

calculate  the  attracting  force  of  the  sun,  and  the  mutual  a-t- 

• 
traction  of  the  planets — also  to  suspend  every  ball  in  its  proper 

position,  and  to  adjust  all  in  reference  to  their  compound  forces ; 
yet  he  might  find  that  not  a  wheel  in  the  great  machine  would 
go — every  ball  drop  from  its  place — worlds  dash  on  worlds,  be- 
cause he  had  overlooked  or  found  himself  wholly  unable  to 
calculate  the  influence  which  other  solar  systems  may  have  on 
ours,  or  other  clusters  of  systems  on  the  one  to  which  ours  be- 
longs. For  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  ours  an  isolated  sys- 
tem, independent  of  all  others,  but  rather  one  of  an  indefinite 
number ;  and  that  every  distance  is  fixed,  every  motion  of  every 
planet,  satellite,  belt  or  ring,  is  determined  in  special  reference 
to  the  connection  of  our  system  to  the  great  Whole.  That 
God  should  be  able  to  calculate  all  these  nice  particulars  in  re- 
lation to  an  infinite  number  and  infinite  variety  of  systems, 
gives  us  an  idea  of  his  greatness,  his  wisdom  and  power,  more 
exalted  than  we  may,  perhaps,  gain  in  any  other  way.  What 
must  that  God  be,  who,  on  the  one  hand,  could  contrive,  form 
and  adjust  its  endless  variety  of  parts  so  as  to  produce  perfect 
harmony ;  set  in  motion,  and  uphold,  in  spite  of  all  conflicting 
powers,  such  a  vast  machine  as  the  universe  ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  so  nicely  superintend  the  minutest  objects  in  nature,  as 
the  diversifying  a  landscape,  the  variegating  of  flowers,  or  the 
gilding  the  wings  of  an  insect.  What  must  that  God  be,  who 
is  so  high,  so  low,  so  rich,  so  poor,  that  he  can  stand  at  the 


238          THE  PALACE  OP  THE  GREAT  KING. 

helm  and  guide  millions  of  millions  of  worlds,  and  yet  take 
note  of  the  falling  sparrow  and  watch  the  lily  of  the  field. 

2.  We  can  no  longer  marvel  at  God's  tender  and  unremit- 
ting care  of  our  world.  The  Infidel  looks  abroad  upon  the 
vastness  of  the  material  universe  and  says  it  is  absurd  that  the 
Author  of  so  many  worlds,  most  of  them  far  surpassing  ours  in 
magnitude,  grandeur  and  beauty,  should  make  this  earth,  this 
insignificant  province  of  his  boundless  domains — this  speck  of 
creation,  an  object  of  his  peculiar  care.  Would  he  be  at  so 
much  pains — would  he  send  his  only  beloved  Son  to  die,  to 
bring  succor  to  man  ?  Would  he  pour  out  the  bowels  of  his 
love,  and  exhaust  his  tender  mercies  on  a  speck,  which  bears 
no  more  comparison  to  the  entire  empire  of  God,  than  a  grain 
of  sand  to  the  sea-shore,  or  a  single  leaf  to  the  forest? 

We  admit  the  comparative  insignificance  of  our  planet,  yet 
we  yield  not  the  point.  Insignificant  as  our  earth  is,  it  is  one 
of  God's  varieties.  Among  the  exhaustless  riches  of  the  Eternal 
King  there  is  nothing  like  it.  As  a  specimen  of  his  skill,  then, 
and  of  workmanship,  it  is  precious  as  the  apple  of  his  eye. 
The  moment  it  became  marred  and  mutilated  by  sin — the  mo- 
ment rebellion  broke  out  in  this  province  of  his  empire,  it  was 
befitting  that  God  should  put  forth  a  special  effort  for  its  re- 
covery. For  the  effects  of  this  insurrection  could  not  stop 
here.  The  warfare  entered  upon  was  a  war  of  principle.  The 
law  violated  was  the  law  of  the  universal  empire.  The  insult 
offered,  an  insult  to  the  Majesty  of  the  Universe.  It  mattered 
not,  then,  whether  the  battle-field  were  great  or  small — whether 
it  were  earth  or  Jupiter  or  a  planetary  nebula,  millions  of  times 
larger  than  our  sun.  A  principle  was  to  be  settled.  It  was  to 
be  determined  whether  sin  or  holiness  should  reign — whether 


OUR   WOELD   A   GEE  AT  BATTLE   FIELD.  239 

Satan  or  God  should  sit  on  the  throne  of  universal  empire. 
Our  earth  was  selected  as  the  scene  of  conflict.  Here  sin 
should  take  the  field,  arrayed  against  holiness.  Here  the  Cap- 
tain of  our  salvation  should  vanquish  him  who  had  the  power 
of  death. 

But  while  our  world  has  heen  made  the  theatre  for  the  ad- 
justment of  a  question  so  vital  to  the  interests  and  happiness 
of  every  province  in  God's  kingdom,  other  worlds  may  be  the 
appointed  arena  on  which  to  settle  other  questions  of  essential 
moment  to  the  welfare  of  the  great  whole.  While  it  may  very 
justly  excite  our  profoundest  wonder  that  the  sleepless  eye  of 
God  should  seem  in  a  special  manner  to  be  directed  towards  our 
world,  and  his  bountiful  hand  to  be  scattering  blessings  most 
profusely  on  his  creature  man,  yet  could  we  get  a  glance  at  the 
Divine  economy  of  other  worlds,  I  doubt  not  we  should  meet 
dispensations  which  would  appear  to  us  quite  as  special  and 
extraordinary.  It  only  comports  with  what  we  know  of  the 
infinitely  varied  character  of  God's  works,  to  believe  that  every 
separate  world  in  the  universe  has  a  history,  people,  climate  and 
productions  peculiar  to  itself ;  and  its  own  peculiar  manifesta- 
tions of  the  Deity.  His  works  and  ways  there — the  moral 
condition  of  the  people — their  manners,  customs,  modes  of  ex- 
istence, are  all  peculiar  to  themselves.  And  every  separate 
world  will  form  a  distinct  and  interesting  study  for  God's  holy 
creatures  to  all  eternity. 

What  we  know  is,  that  the  Second  Person  of  the  Trinity 
has  made  a  glorious  advent  to  this  our  planet ;  that  he  begun, 
and  is  still  carrying  forward,  a  work  of  ineffable  magnitude 
and  immeasurable  interest  to  us  ;  that  having  fulfilled  his  be- 
nevolent errand  here,  "  He  that  maketh  the  clouds  his  chariot" 


240  THE   PALACE   OF  THE   GREAT  KING. 

bade  adieu  to  this  globe,  and  rode  in  triumph  to  some  other 
world,  to  some  material  world — for  he  departed  with  a  material 
body — where  he  may  achieve  marvels  as  wonderful,  and  per- 
form works  as  stupendous,  and  as  honorable  to  God ;  where  he 
may  be  carrying  forward  other  schemes  for  the  final  aggrandize- 
ment of  the  IMPERIAL  THRONE,  quite  as  magnificent  as  he  had 
accomplished  on  our  earth. 

There  is  in  the  idea  that  God  created  and  upholds  all  this 
vast  universe,  a  sublimity  which  beggars  all  conception.  By 
the  word  of  his  power,  by  his  almighty  fiat,  all  worlds,  sys- 
tems, clusters  of  systems  and  boundless  universe,  with  all  its 
complicated  structures,  adaptations,  motions  and  uses,  emerged 
from  nothing !  that  nothing  is  so  minute,  nothing  so  mighty, 
no  intelligence  so  high,  none  so  low,  which  he  does  not  direct. 
The  surmise  of  the  Christian  philosopher  here  is  certainly  a 
very  natural  one :  "  The  infinite  ease,"  says  he,  "  with  which 
this  vast  fabric  was  reared,  leads  us  irresistibly  to  conclude, 
that  there  are  powers  and  energies  in  the  Divine  Mind  which 
have  never  yet  been  exerted,  and  which  may  unfold  themselves 
to  intelligent  beings  in  the  production  of  still  more  astonishing 
and  magnificent  "effects,  during  an  endless  succession  of  ex- 
istence." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

How  it  takes  all  sorts  of  Saints  to  make  a  Heaven. 
"Having  gifts  differing  according  to  the  grace  that  is  given  ws." — Rom.  xii.  6. 

HEAVEN  is  a  paradise,  a  garden  of  flowers,  into  which  the  great 
Proprietor  has  gathered  (and  where  bloom  in  eternal  beauty) 
flowers  of  every  imaginable  hue,  fragrance  and  variety.  Or 
heaven  is  a  vast  repository  of  jewels,  which  the  great  Media- 
torial King  has  gathered,  and  is  still  gathering,  from  amidst 
the  beggarly  elements  of  the  apostasy,  arid  fitting  and  burnish- 
ing in  every  possible  variety.  While  in  essential  characteris- 
tics and  intrinsic  value  all  are  alike,  yet  Gabriel  in  vain  would 
traverse  the  boundless  fields  of  Paradise  to  find  two  of  these 
plants  of  renown,  these  trees  of  righteousness,  which  do  not 
present  some  features  of  interest  peculiar  to  itself.  Or,  if 
heaven  be  a  repository  of  the  jewels  of  the  Great  King,  then 
each  of  the  great  multitude,  which  no  man  can  number,  pre- 
sents some  peculiar  beauty  and  excellence  of  its  own. 

Heaven  is  the  assemblage  and  the  full  consummation  of  all 
the  varied  graces  which  ever  flourished  on  the  earth,  or  among 
the  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly  places. 

It  is  in  the  garden  below  that  all  these  plants  of  righteous- 
ness are  reared  and  fitted  for  transplantation  to  the  garden 
above.  And  if,  as  has  been  intimated,  the  same  universal  law 
11 


242          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

of  variety  pervade  the  boundless  domains  of  heaven,  as  we 
have  seen  characterize  all  things  on  earth,  not  except  man 
in  all  his  social,  intellectual  and  physical  relations  and  develop- 
ments, we  must  expect  to  find  man  in  all  his  moral  relations, 
endowments  and  trainings,  subject  to  the  same  law.  Not  only 
does  it  take  "all  sorts  of  men  to  make  a  world,"  but  it  requires 
"  all  sorts  of  saints  to  make  a  heaven." 

Hence  all  those  "  diversities  of  gifts"  and  spiritual  endow- 
ments, all  those  "  diversities  of  operations "  and  "  ministra- 
tions "  of  which  the  apostle  speaks.  By  his  manifold  wisdom 
and  grace,  God  is  thus  preparing  men  for  heaven,  who  shall 
exhibit  and  illustrate  in  their  characters,  virtues  and  graces  of 
of  every  possible  variety. 

A  late  writer,  in  illustration  of  this  thought,  has  well  said: 
"  A  truly  righteous  act  is  a  good  in  a  double  sense.  It  not 
only  does  good  but  itself  is  a  good.  It  adds  to  the  sum  total 
of  good  in  existence.  The  whole  realm  of  God  is  the  wealthier 
for  it,  and  the  glory  of  God's  administration  is  so  much  in- 
creased. He,  then,  who  works  out  one  great  act  of  fidelity, 
showing  to  the  world  the  beauty  and  preciousness  of  that 
cardinal  virtue  ;  or  holds  forth  one  great  example  of  truth  ;  or 
one  great  exhibition  of  disinterested  love ;  or  one  great  lesson 
of  Christian  patience  and  constancj-,  will  find  these,  at  its 
close,  substantial  products  of  life,  which  will  bless  it  as  they 
will  enrich  the  universe  forever.  Let  it  not  be  supposed  that 
in  judging  and  rewarding  the  actions  of  probation,  God  will 
have  respect  only  to  what  was  simply  useful,  or  the  opposite. 
He  will  regard  also  what  was  beautiful  and  only  in  itself  good. 
As  an  earthly  monarch  collects  in  the  galleries  of  his  palace 
the  achievements  of  art,  rare  works  of  painting  and  stat'iary, 


VARIETY   IN   CHEISTTAN   CHAEACTEE.  243 

and  of  exquisite  mechanical  skill,  which  henceforth  remain 
illustrative  of  his  taste  and  wealth  and  magnificence,  and 
descend  from  generation  to  generation  as  among  the  most 
sacred  treasures  and  ornaments  of  the  nation ;  so  God,  out  of 
all  the  noble,  and  beautiful,  and  pure  things  which  the  history 
of  redemption  will  have  furnished,  the  virtues,  the  charities, 
the  high  achievements  of  Christian  faith  and  hope,  will,  in  the 
day  when  he  'maketh  up  his  jewels,'  fill  and  embellish  the 
courts  of  Heaven,  and  cause  them  to  stand  forever  as  illustra- 
tions to  the  universe  of  the  highest  beauty  and  worth,  and 
monuments  of  that  wondrous  grace  which  had  power  to  elabo- 
rate them  from  materials  once  so  ruined  and  lost." 

Our  subject  is  variety  in  Christian  character  and  experience. 
As  in  the  natural  world  variety  is  everywhere  the  controlling 
order  of  workmanship,  so  in  the  spiritual,  all  God's  spiritual 
creations  bear  stamped  upon  their  face  the  most  evident  marks 
of  his  "  manifold  wisdom "  and  his  "  manifold  grace."  The 
fact  that  the  Church  is  made  up  of  all  sorts  of  men  ;  of  persons 
of  all  sorts  of  temperaments,  habits,  positions  in  life,  degrees 
of  mental  culture  and  habits  of  thought,  would  seem  to  furnish 
a  general  basis  for  a  corresponding  variety  in  the  moral  char- 
acter and  religious  temperament  and  experience  of  its  mem- 
bers ;  and  as  the  church  below  is  the  nursery  of  the  church  in- 
visible above,  we  may  assume  that  the  perfect  state  of  the 
blessed  in  heaven  shall  not  be  less  richly  developed  and  pro- 
fusely variegated  than  in  this  imperfect  state  below. 

The  reflecting  mind  will  not  fail  to  magnify  the  wisdom 
and  grace  of  God  in  the  singularly  rich  displays  of  this  wisdom 
and  grace  as  seen  in  the  varieties  of  his  spiritual  workmanship. 
While  it  is  the  same  Spirit,  the  same  Sovereign  Agent,  that 


244          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

works  "  all  in  all  " — works  all  these  different  graces  and  vir- 
tues in  all  the  different  myriads  and  millions  of  persons  who 
are  the  subjects  of  them.  Yet  every  individual  case  is  an  in- 
dividual variety. 

Divine  grace  operates  on  the  human  mind  as  it  finds  it ; 
and  operating,  as  it  does,  on  all  possible  -varieties  of  mind 
and  personal  peculiarities,  without  pretending  to  eradicate  or 
change  them,  it,  of  consequence,  produces  as  great  a  variety 
of  Christian  character.  The  design  is  to  engender  and  cher- 
ish in  the  body  of  Christ,  which  is  the  church,  every  possible 
Christian  grace.  The  presentation  of  the  same  motives,  the 
same  truths,  and  the  same  providential  dealings,  would,  on 
this  principle,  secure  a  singular  variety  in  the  results  ;  and  it 
would  seem,  as  we  shall  see  by  and  by,  as  if  the  Divine  Mind 
were  exhausted  in  so  multiplying  and  variegating  motives, 
truths,  providential  dealings,  and  all  the  means  of  grace,  as  to 
secure  every  conceivable  variety  in  Christian  character  and 
experience. 

But  we  are  concerned  at  present  rather  with  the  facts  ;  of 
the  uses  and  reasons  of  all  these  diversities  of  gifts  and  graces, 
and  the  diversified  means  and  agencies  by  which  they  are  pro- 
duced, we  will  speak  hereafter.  The  great  fact  in  the  case  is, 
that,  as  in  nature  so  in  grace,  the  Divine  wisdom  and  good- 
ness seem  exhausted  in  an  endless  variety  of  workmanship. 
As  we  cast  the  eye  over  the  broad  field  of  Christian  experi- 
ence, could  we  thoroughly  analyze  the  piety  of  any  given 
number  of  Christians,  we  should  undoubtedly  find  each  indi- 
vidual a  distinct  variety  of  himself.  All  true  disciples  of  our 
one  Lord  and  one  Spirit  are  essentially  one.  They  harmonize 
in  all  the  great  features  of  Christian  character  and  temper. 


PECULIAKITIES    OF   CHEISTIAJST   CHARACTER.  245 

They  are  one  in  Christ.  They  all  bear  the  same  badge  of  dis- 
cipleship — all  love  and  serve  the  same  Lord — are  baptized  into 
the  same  Spirit — feed  on  the  same  heavenly  bread,  and  drink 
at  the  same  wells  of  sal\7ation.  Their  work,  their  aim,  their 
hopes  are  one — their  home,  their  eternal  rest,  is  one.  Yet 
every  Christian  exhibits  peculiarities  of  Christian  character 
differing  from  every  other  Christian. 

Our  thought  is  amply  illustrated  in  sacred  history.  Patri- 
archs, prophets,  apostles,  all  the  saints  whose  biography  we 
have  in  the  Bible,  are  beautiful  illustrations  of  it.  In  one, 
reverence  predominated ;  in  another,  hope,  or  faith,  or  love, 
or  joy.  The  religion  of  one  was  retiring,  self- distrusting,  sub- 
jective ;  that  of  another,  was  bold  and  aggressive.  One  exults 
on  the  Pisgah  of  hope,  another  feels  his  way  through  the  val- 
ley of  humiliation.  The  prophets  were  all  holy  men,  yet  no 
two  of  them  presented  the  same  phase  of  piety.  Each  one 
illustrated  his  own  peculiar  virtues  and  graces.  The  apostles 
were  all  (Judas  excepted,  and  Paul  in  his  stead,)  good  men, 
yet  how  different  the  features  of  their  piety.  What  can  be 
more  unlike  than  Peter  and  John,  or  Paul  and  Barnabas  ? 
Nor  was  the  type  of  piety  which  characterized  the  other  nine 
scarcely  less  varied. 

The  three  apostles  with  whom  we  are  best  acquainted, 
and  about  whose  religious  character  we  know  the  most,  are 
Paul,  Peter  and  John.  They  were  all  very  holy  and  devoted 
men — baptized  into  the  same  Spirit,  and  of  one  faith,  one 
Lord  and  one  baptism.  Yet  how  different  a  type  of  piety  did 
each  manifest.  The  Sun  of  righteousness  had  shone  in  upon 
their  native  darkness  from  different  directions  and  through  dif- 
ferent agencies,  and  more  especially  had  cast  his  light  on  certain 


246  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

provinces  of  that  dark  empire  of  sin,  the  human  heart ;  and  con- 
sequently as  the  mind  was  roused  and  a  conviction  produced,  in 
respect  to  a  certain  sin  or  a  particular  class  of  sins,  pardoning 
grace,  adapted  itself  to  the  conviction  of  sin,  or  of  duty,  and 
the  virtues  and  graces  implanted  thereby,  would  be  found  to 
correspond. 

The  apostles  named  are  examples.  They  all,  though  not 
in  the  same  degree,  exhibited  faith,  zeal  and  love.  Yet  each 
was  remarkable  for  a  particular  grace  or  graces,  which  strik- 
ingly distinguished  his  piety  from  that  of  either  of  the  others. 
"  Paul  chiefly  exhibited  the  strength  of  faith ;  Peter,  the  power 
of  zeal ;  and  John,  the  force  of  love.  Paul  is  most  distinguished 
for  that  courage  and  fortitude  which  faith  inspires ;  Peter,  for 
the  ardor  and  activity  which  are  stimulated  by  zeal;  John, 
for  that  melting  tenderness  and  fervent  charity  which  he 
caught  by  leaning  on  the  bosom  of  incarnate  Love. 

"  Yet  Paul  had  zeal  as  well  as  Peter,  and  love  as  well  as 
John  ;  though  in  these  qualities  they  respectively  excelled  him. 
Peter,  too,  was  strong  in  faith,  as  well  as  Paul,  and  lovingly 
and  devotedly  attached  to  his  Lord  as  well  as  John,  though 
excelled  by  them  severally  in  these  particulars.  So  John  was 
firm  in  faith  as  well  as  Paul,  and  fervent  in  action  as  well  as 
Peter,  though  they  outshone  him  in  these  bright  graces.  Each 
had  what  the  others  had,  but  each  blended  these  virtues  in  dif- 
ferent proportions.  Each,  forming  a  distinct  compound  of 
them  according  to  his  own  natural  temperament  and  his  pe- 
culiar experience  of  the  grace  of  God,  attained  to  a  historic  in- 
dividuality of  his  own,  which  has  been  recognized  in  all  ages. 

"  There  can  hardly  be  a  happier  illustration  of  that  diversity 
in  unity,  which,  in  religion  as  in  all  the  other  works  of  God,  pre- 


PAUL,    PETER   AND   JOHN   UNLIKE.  247 

sent  the  charm  of  consistent  variety.  Such  variety  is  like  the 
parts  of  a  skilful  harmony,  dissimilar,  and  yet  made  for  each 
other,  and  blending  in  sweet  accord.  '  Now  there  are  diversi- 
ties of  gifts,  but  the  same  Spirit ;  and  there  are  differences  of 
administrations,  but  the  same  Lord ;  and  there  are  diversities 
of  operations,  but  it  is  the  same  God  which  worketh  all  in  all. 
But  all  these  worketh  that  one  and  the  self-same  Spirit,  divid- 
ing to  every  man  severally  as  he  will.' 

"By  the  varied  confounding  of  the  same  simple  elements,  a 
creation  is  produced  where  each  part  relieves,  heightens  and 
sets  off  the  rest.  Thus  the  pleasure  of  constant  novelty,  fresh 
and  interesting  combinations,  and  of  well-adjusted  contrasts, 
is  kept  up.  It  is  this  which  feeds  all  pleasurable  excitement. 
It  is  more  than  '  the  spice  of  life.'  It  is  the  food  of  lasting 
admiration  and  enjoyment.  Melody  is  sweet,  but  it  is  spiritless 
and  monotonous,  and  soon  surfeits  the  palled  ear.  But  the 
harmonious  'concourse  of  sweet  sounds'  melting  into  each 
other,  and  blending  into  the  rolling  tide  of  music,  is  the  tri- 
umph of  that  delightful  art,  whose  magical  effects  are  the  re- 
sult of  variety  in  unison. 

'  Assembled  men  to  the  deep  organ  join 
The  long-resounding  voice,  oft  breaking  clear, 
At  solemn  pauses,  through  the  swelling  base  ; 
And,  as  each  mingling  flame  increases  each, 
In  one  united  ardor  rise  to  heaven,' 

"  The  affections  of  holy  souls  are  like  the  ten  accordant 
strings  of  the  golden  harps  on  high.  They  are  attuned  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  who  breathes  upon  them  all,  and  mingles  their 
dulcet  notes  with  divinest  skill  in  the  full  chorus  of  celestial 
song." 


248  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

I  make  no  apology  for  so  long  an  extract.  It  so  beauti- 
fully delineates  our  idea  that  it  would  be  but  affectation  to 
attempt  to  clothe  it  in  another  dress. 

But  prophets  and  apostles  afford  but  limited  illustrations. 
The  principle  holds  with  respect  to  the  whole  body  of  believers. 
"  The  manifold  grace  of  God"  has,  perhaps,  wrought  in  no  two 
persons  alike.  The  illustration  taken  from  the  apostles  will 
serve  as  a  general  one. 

You  may  examine  the  religious  exercises  and  the  peculiar 
features  of  the  religious  character  of  each  member  of  any  indi- 
vidual church,  or  of  every  individual  of  the  church  universal, 
and  you  will  find  that  the  great  Architect  has  as  carefully  and 
universally  variegated  his  moral  creations  as  he  has  his  ma- 
terial works.  You  will-  discover  that,  in  all  the  different  sub- 
jects of  Divine  grace,  the  same  spirit  has  wrought  "  diversities 
of  gifts,"  and  "diversities"  of  manifestations— " diversities  of 
operations"  and  of  "administrations."  Different  gifts  are  en- 
gendered, and  different  graces  implanted  and  nourished  in  dif- 
ferent hearts.  One  is  distinguished  by  a  peculiarly  strong, 
simple  and  childlike  faith.  Simple  trust  and  filial  acquiescence 
characterizes  such  a  one.  Another  class  unfold  the  beauties 
of  hope.  However  clouds  and  darkness  may  surround  them  at 
present,  they  always  see  light  and  joy  before  them.  In  one, 
meekness,  humility  and  gentleness  abound ;  while  the  religion 
of  another  is  characterized  by  boldness,  courage  and  enterprise. 
The  religious  affections  of  another  are  seen  to  centre  very  much 
about  holy  joy.  He  is  wont  so  much  to  contemplate  the  good- 
ness of  God,  and  more  especially  his  abounding  mercy  through 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  only  ground  of  human  salvation,  that  he 
rejoices  always  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory ;  while 


DIVERSITIES    OF   OPERATIONS.  249 

the  religion  of  another  is  scarcely  known  outside  of  the  vale  of 
tears.  So  intently  does  he  dwell  on  his  fallen  and  his  corrupt 
nature  and  his  hopeless  condition  by  sin,  that  he  does  little  but 
mourn  his  lost  estate. 

As  one  has  his  thoughts  directed  more  especially  towards 
God — as  he  gets  clearer  and  more  comprehensive  views  of  the 
greatness,  and  goodness,  and  holiness  of  the  Divine  character, 
reverence  and  awe  become  the  more  prominent  manifestations 
of  his  religion ;  while  another,  by  the  more  frequent  contem- 
plations of  his  own  unworthiness  and  guilt  as  a  sinner,  finds 
his  religious  exercises  cast  in  a  more  sombre  mould — clouded  by 
the  shadows  of  humiliation,  doubt  and  fear.  The  heart  of  one 
seems  almost  constantly  to  glow  with  gratitude  and  expand  in 
love,  and  is  the  more  easily  engaged  in  labors  of  beneficence, 
or  drawi  out  in  kindly  sympathies  for  the  woes  of  the  desti- 
tute and  suffering.  The  heart  of  another  recoils  back  on  itself, 
and  expends  the  feelings  of  a  broken  and  a  contrite  spirit  in 
self-upbraidings  and  repentant  sighs. 

The  formation  of  this  singular  variety  in  Christian  char- 
acter is  very  much  laid  in  the  early  convictions  of  the  sin- 
ner as  produced  by  the  different  aspects  and  phases  in  which 
Divine  truth  is  apprehended,  and  in  those  different  mental 
yearnings  and  anxious  heart-struggles  which  usually  precede 
conversion.  Every  truly  converted  soul  is  brought  to  one  and 
the  same  point  before  the  sovereign  act  of  pardoning  grace 
reaches  it.  All  must  feel  their  dependence,  their  moral  cor- 
ruption and  guilt,  their  absolute  need  of  an  infinite  Saviour, 
and  must  yield  themselves  up  with  implicit  submission,  un- 
feigned repentance  and  childlike  faith;  though  there  be  a 
vast  variety  in  the  manner  in  which  each  individual  is  brought 
11* 


250  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GEEAT   KING. 

to  such  a  conviction  and  surrender ;  and  as  great  a  variety  in 
the  character  of  the  convictions  themselves.  "  Some  are 
brought,"  says  a  great  master  in  Israel  (President  Edwards, 
than  whom  few  men  ever  searched  deeper  into  the  secret  re- 
cesses of  the  heart,  or  was  more  highly  endowed  with  the  gift 
of  "  discerning  spirits ;"  he  was  one  of  the  Great  Master's 
choice  and  interesting  varieties) — "  some  are  brought  to  this 
conviction  by  a  great  sense  of  their  sinfulness  in  general,  that 
they  are  such  vile  and  wicked  creatures  in  heart  and  life ; 
others  have  the  sins  of  their  lives  in  an  extraordinary  manner 
set  before  them,  multitudes  of  them  coming  just  then  fresh 
to  their  memory,  and  being  set  before  them  with  their  aggra- 
vations ;  some  have  their  minds  especially  fixed  on  some  par- 
ticular wicked  practice  they  have  indulged ;  some  are  especially 
convinced  by  a  sight  of  the  corruption  and  wickedness<t>f  their 
hearts ;  some  from  a  view  they  have  of  the  horridness  of  some 
particular  exercise  of  corruption,  which  they  have  had  in  the 
time  of  their  awakening,  whereby  the  enmity  of  the  heart 
against  God  had  been  manifested." 

Correspondingly  varied  too  are  the  sources  of  religious  com- 
forts which  different  Christians  experience.  These  vary  accord- 
ing to  the  peculiar  direction  given  to  the  mind  in  its  awakened 
state.  "  More  frequently,  Christ  is  distinctly  made  the  object 
of  the  mind,  in  his  all-sufficiency  and  willingness  to  save  sin- 
ners ;  but  some  have  their  thoughts  more  especially  fixed  on 
God,  in  some  of  his  sweet  and  glorious  attributes  manifested 
in  the  gospel  and  shining  forth  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ." 
Others  are  moved  by  the  all-sufficiency  of  the  mercy  and  grace 
of  God,  chiefly  by  his  infinite  power  and  ability  to  save.  The 
truth  and  faithfulness  of  God,  or  the  peculiar  adaptedness  to 


VARIOUS  METHODS   OP   GRACE.  251 

their  wants  of  the  Gospel,  engrosses  the  mind  and  moves  the 
hearts  of  some ;  while  others  dwell  on  the  promises,  and  invi- 
tations, and  the  peculiar  grace  of  the  Gospel,  and  they  become 
the  moving  themes.  In  one  instance,  "  the  glory  and  wonder- 
fulness  of  the  dying  love  of  Christ ;  the  sufficiency  and  precious- 
ness  of  his  blood  as  offered  to  make  an  atonement  for  sin,  or 
the  value  and  glory  of  his  obedience  and  righteousness,  fill  the 
mind  and  sway  the  heart.  Or  the  excellences  and  loveliness 
of  Christ  chiefly  engage  the  thoughts ;  and  the  type  of  religion, 
which  is  the  result,  varies  according  to  the  views  taken  of  God 
and  truth. 

"  In  some,  converting  light  is  like  a  glorious  brightness 
suddenly  shining  in  upon  a  person  and  all  around  him  ;  they 
are  in  a  remarkable  manner  brought  out  of  darkness  into 
marvellous  light.  In  many  others  it  has  been  like  the  dawn- 
ing of  the  day  when  but  first  a  light  appears,  and  it  may  be, 
is  presently  hid  with  a  cloud."  There  is,  indeed,  an  endless 
variety  in  the  particular  manner  and  circumstances  in  which 
persons  are  wrought  on,  both  at  and  after  conversion,  as  well 
as  in  the  degree  of  hope  and  satisfaction  which  they  have  in 
their  own  estate.  God  confines  himself  to  no  particular 
methods,  and  therefore  no  one  can  make  his  own  experience  a 
rule  for  others.  The  work  is  "glorious  in  its  variety,"  beauti- 
fully displaying  the  "  manifoldness  and  unsearchableness  of 
the  wisdom  of  God." 

But  why  does  the  "  self-same  Spirit "  work  in  the  children 
of  the  Highest  such  diversities  of  Christian  experience,  charac- 
ter and  practice  ?  The  apostle  answers :  "  The  manifestation 
of  the  Spirit  is  given  to  every  man,  to  profit  withal."  Christ's 
mediatorial  work  among  men  is  a  great  work,  and  very  various 


252  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GKEAT   KING. 

in  its  character ;  and  he  provides  instruments  to  meet  the  ex- 
pansive and  varying  character  of  the  work.  He  diversifies 
gifts  and  graces  as  he  sees  is  best  suited  to  profit  all  ranks  and 
conditions  of  men,  and  fit  them  to  perform  every  possible  ser- 
vice in  the  church,  and  as  is  best  suited  to  profit  each  indi- 
vidual Christian. 

Paul  speaks  (1  Cor.  xii.  8-10)  of  the  differences  of  "  ad- 
ministrations "  and  "  operations ;"  the  various  ministries  or 
services,  and  the  different  labors  to  be  performed  as  the  circum- 
stances and  exigencies  of  the  church  and  the  world  had  need 
of  in  his  day ;  and  how  the  mental  and  spiritual  resources  of 
the  then  present  generation  of  Christians  were  adapted  to 
meet  all  these  singularly  varied  wants.  "  To  one  is  given  by 
the  Spirit  the  word  of  wisdom  ;  to  another,  the  word  of  knowl- 
edge ;  to  another,  faith ;  to  another,  the  gift  of  healing ;  to 
another,  the  working  of  miracles  ;"  and  to  others  severally  the 
gifts  of  prophecy ;  of  the  discerning  of  spirits ;  of  speaking 
divers  kinds  of  tongues,  or  of  interpreting  of  tongues. 

Hence,  too,  the  various  grades  of  teachers  in  the  Christian 
church,  and  their  singularly  varied  endowments  and  aptitudes 
as  teachers.  To  meet  the  wants  of  the  church  at  that  period, 
there  were  appointed,  or  "set"  in  the  church,  "apostles, 
prophets,  teachers,  miracles,  gifts  of  healing,  helps,  govern- 
ments, diversities  of  tongues."  If  all  had  been  apostles,  or  all 
prophets  or  teachers,  or  workers  of  miracles ;  if  all  had  the 
gifts  of  healing,  or  of  speaking  with  tongues,  or  all  interpreted, 
how  extremely  limited  would  have  been  the  range  of  duties 
and  services  which  the  Christian  church  would  have  performed. 
And  if  there  were  not  the  same  wise  and  benevolent  distribu- 
tion of  religious  endowments  and  capabilities  in  the  church  of 


EYEKT   MAN  GREAT  IN   HIS   OWN   SPHEEE.  253 

the  present  time,  the  broad  field  of  Christian  duty  could  never 
be  occupied. 

Contented,  then,  should  every  man  be  in  the  work  and 
station  assigned  him  by  the  great  controlling  mind.  If  he  be 
doing  the  work  for  which  he  is  fitted  and  called,  he  is  doing  a 
good  and  acceptable  work ;  and  it  matters  not  in  point  of 
honor  in  the  eyes  of  the  Master,  whether  the  department  of 
service  which  he  fills  be,  in  man's  estimation,  high  or  low.  He 
alone  is  high  in  Heaven's  estimate  who  well  does  his  own 
appropriate  work. 

What  envy  ings,  jealousies,  and  unhallowed  rivalries ;  what 
heartburnings  and  strifes,  would  be  spared  a  suffering  church, 
if  every  individual  member  would  quietly  do  his  own  duties, 
illustrate  the  graces  which  the  Master  has  vouchsafed  to  him, 
and  contentedly  occupy  the  station  which  God  has  assigned 
"Him.  Every  grace  would  then  be  cultivated,  every  duty  done, 
every  post  well  filled,  and  soon  "  great  would  be  the  company 
of  them  who  publish"  the  glad  tidings  of  the  kingdom. 

The  thought  illustrated  in  this  chapter  quite  rebukes  the 
pride  of  those  who  seem  to  be  doing  a  great  and  conspicuous 
work ;  and  equally  encourages  all  those  humble  workers  in 
the  Master's  vineyard,  who  are  doing  an  equally  important 
and  honorable  work  in  the  secluded  vale.  Leave  unfilled 
either  the  high  or  the  low  station ;  leave  undone  either  the 
work  on  the  house-top,  or  the  work  of  obscurity  where  no 
human  eye  sees  and  no  tongue  applauds,  and  you  alike  mar  or 
mutilate  the  great  whole. 

Another  closing  thought  occurs ;  it  is  the  obligation  of 
every  individual  Christian  to  do  the  work  providentally 
assigned  him  with  cheerfulness  an<J  zeal.  The  field  to  be 


254  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

occupied  by  Christian  effort  is  a  broad  one.  Instruction  of  all 
sorts  and  of  infinite  importance  is  to  be  given ;  cautions  and 
rebukes  to  be  applied ;  afflictions  to  be  soothed ;  consolations 
and  sympathies  to  be  administered. 

Having,  then,  gifts  differing  according  to  the  grace  given  to 
us,  as  every  man  hath  received  the  gift,  even  so  let  him  minis- 
ter the  same,  as  a  good  steward  of  the  manifold  grace  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

VAEIETY  IN  DIVINE  TRUTH,  as  suited  to  produce  Variety  in  Christian  Character  and 
Experience. 

"  ALL  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profit- 
able for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in 
righteousness,  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly 
furnished  unto  all  good  works."  We  discover  in  Divine 
Truth  a  variety  corresponding  to  that  which  we  have  seen  in 
Christian  character  and  experience.  u  He  who  receives  the 
gospel  of  Christ  finds  it  adapted  to  all  the  varying  circum- 
stances of  his  life  ;  so  that  in  whatever  condition  he  may  be 
placed,  it  offers  to  him  promises,  counsels,  admonitions,  en- 
couragements, helps,  precisely  suited  to  his  wants,  just  as  if 
they  were  given  expressly  to  meet  his  case ;  as  indeed  they 
were,  by  Him  who  knew  how  to  give  a  Bible  adapted  to  all 
the  world  and  to  each  particular  man  in  it." 

It  is  the  design  of  the  present  chapter  to  contemplate,  in 
some  of'  its  aspects,  this  peculiar  characteristic  of  Divine  Eev- 
elation — how  it  is  adapted  to  meet  all  the  endlessly  diversi- 
fied wants,  conditions,  and  circumstances  of  man — to  be  his 
teacher,  his  reprover,  his  guide  and  comforter  in  every  suppos- 
able,  or  possible  condition  of  life.  And 

1st.  We  turn  to  what  we  may,   in  general,  denominate 


256  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GEEAT  KING. 

the  literary  character  of  the  Bible.  The  Bible  is  in  this  re- 
spect a  singular  repository  of  jewels ;  and  you  would  be  as- 
tonished at  the  variegated  character  of  these  jewels.  The 
careless  reader  of  the  Bible  does  not  take  note  of  the  great 
multiplicity  and  variety  of  the  topics  there  treated ;  from  the 
infinite  interests  of  man's  immortal  spirit  down  to  the  most 
familiar  domestic  incident,  or  the  most  common  occurrence  in 
life. 

It  lays  down  principles,  precepts  and  maxims,  which  are 
applicable  in  every  condition  of  life.  It  administers  a  rebuke, 
whispers  a  warning,  plies  a  threatening,  issues  a  command, 
waves  an  invitation,  soothes  a  grief,  assumes  the  angel  of 
mercy  towards  the  afflicted,  and  heals  the  broken  heart,  as  the 
varied  and  ever-changing  circumstances  of  human  life  require. 
Its  great  and  simple  theme  is  human  salvation  through  an  in- 
carnate God.  The  design  of  Eevelation  is  to  unfold  this 
simple,  sublime  theme.  In  order  to  this,  it  was  needful  that 
the  character  of  God  should  be  revealed — his  inflexible  justice, 
his  unspotted  holiness,  and  his  overflowing  goodness  and 
mercy — that  the  purity,  the  righteousness,  and  infinite  impor- 
tance of  the  Divine  law  should  be  understood,  that  the  ex- 
ceeding sinfulness  of  sin  should,  in  every  possible  form  and 
condition  of  life,  and  in  all  its  moral  turpitude,  be  illustrated  ; 
its  corrupting,  desolating,  damning  effects  on  the  human 
soul  and  its  debasing  influences  on  the  social  ana  civil  con- 
dition of  man  should  be  portrayed — that  the  great  remedial 
scheme  of  rescuing  man  from  sin  should  be  brought  to  light 
through  the  ordained  Mediator,  and  his  Divine  character  be- 
come confirmed  by  the  teachings  of  heavenly  wisdom,  by 
signs  and  wonders  and  many  mighty  works,  and  that  the 


VARIOUS   TOPICS    OF    REVELATION.  257 

whole  system  of  doctrines  and  duties  should  be  taught  and 
variously  illustrated. 

All  these  various  topics  must  be  narrated,"  discussed  and 
variously  unfolded.  And  were  we  to  go  no  further,  we  at  once 
perceive  what  a  multiplicity  of  subjects  must  be  treated  of  in 
the  Bible.  And  what  adds  vastly  to  the  variety,  is  that  all 
these  subjects  are  illustrated  and  enforced  in  such  a  variety  of 
ways.  It  is  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon  precept.  The 
same  truth,  the  same  fact  or  doctrine  or  precept,  is  presented 
in  so  many  aspects,  and  urged  by  so  many  considerations. 

But  the  field  covered  by  the  Bible  is  vastly  broader. 
There  must  needs  be  a  theatre  on  which  the  great  drama  of 
redemption  must  be  acted.  This  must  be  fitted  up  as  a  suit- 
able habitation  for  intelligent  creatures.  It  must  become  not 
only  a  theatre  for  the  unfolding  of  the  mysteries  of  redemption, 
the  maturing  and  consummating  of  the  plans  and  purposes  of 
the  Divine  mercy  in  respect  to  man's  salvation,  and  the  carry- 
ing out,  in  all  its  benevolent  details,  the  one  great  scheme, 
but  on  the  other  hand,  this  earth  should  be  not  the  less  the 
theatre  on  which  should  be  developed  the  evil  of  sin — the  tur- 
pitude and  inveteracy  of  the  disease  which  it  is  proposed  to 
heal.  Here  the  poisonous  seed  should  be  planted — here  vege- 
tate in  a  prolific  soil — here  send  up  its  bitter  plants,  which 
should  grow  and  blossom  and  bring  forth,  in  all  its  vile 
luxuriance,  its  bitter  fruits. 

In  order  to  meet  man's  wants,  and  to  satisfy  his  reasonable 
inquiries,  what  an  extensive  and  multifarious  history  must  the 
Bible  then  contain.  The  pious,  reflecting  mind  is  not  satis- 
fied simply  to  know  that  this  world  exists,  fitted  up  in  so 
much  beauty,  richness  and  variety.  But  he  wishes  to-  know 


258  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

who  is  its  maker?  who  the  author  of  all  these  wonderful 
works,  and  mysterious  arrangements  of  creation  and  Provi- 
dence ?  who  the  controller  and  preserver  of  the  great  system  ? 
Why  all  was  made  and  so  carefully  governed  1  He  needs  a  uni- 
versal history — an  ancient  history,  which  reaches  hack  to  the 
beginning  of  time;  and  forward  to  the  end  of  time.  The 
Bible  is  such  a  history.  It  is  a  history  of  the  world — of  its 
origin  and  authorship — of  its  fitting  up  for  the  habitation  of 
man — of  the  origin  and  character  of  its  first  inhabitants  and 
their  occupancy  of  the  earth — of  the  apostasy  of  the  progeni- 
tors of  our  race,  and  the  "  death  and  all  its  woes,"  which  followed 
in  its  train.  It  is  a  history  of  that  wonderful  plan  of  recovery 
from  the  ruins  of  sin  and  of  restoration  to  the  favor  of  God. 
It  is  a  history,  too,  of  all  the  great  nations  of  the  earth,  and  of 
all  the  great  events  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  time. 
What  a  multitude  of  topics  are  embraced,  what  a  long  series 
of  generations  have  their  great  and  leading  events  chronicled 
in  this  book.  How  varied,  then,  must  be  its  history  ! 

But  the  Bible  is  vastly  more  than  a  chronicler  of  the  past 
or  a  true  mirror  of  the  present.  Prophecy  is  unwritten  history, 
painted  in  symbol  or  seen  in  vision  or  dream  or  type  or 
shadow,  or  communicated  to  some  favored  minds,  to  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  sacr-ed  page  for  the  edification  of  all  future  gene- 
rations. As  the  scroll  of  the  mysterious  future  unrolls,  the 

: 
symbol  or  type  fades  away  and  the  veritable  page  of  history 

takes  its  place. 

The  Bible  as  merely  an  historical  book  covers  an  exceed- 
ingly broad  and  varied  field. 

I  have  alluded  to  other  topics  detailed  in  the  Bible  which  fur- 
ther illustrate  its  varied  teachings.  The  beauties  of  holiness  are 


SIN   AND   ITS   BITTER   FRUITS   ILLUSTRATED.  259 

to  be  unfolded ;  the  truth  of  our  religion  to  be  defended  and 
confirmed  ;  the  excellencies  of  the  gospel  to  be  tested  in  its  re- 
forming, civilizing,  and  sanctifying  efficacies  ;  the  influences 
of  religion  to  be  shown  in  all  their  bearings  on  the  various  con- 
ditions of  life  both  now  and  hereafter.  To  show  all  these  things, 
what  a  variety  of  instructions,  histories,  narratives,  biographies, 
the  Bible  must  contain — what  civil,  social,  domestic  and  indi- 
vidual histories  must  be  narrated,  in  order  to  bring  out  and 
present  in  their  proper  light  all  the  practical  excellencies  and 
every-day  benefits  of  our  Eeligion. 

On  the  other  hand,  sin  and  all  its  bitter  fruits,  must  be 
correspondingly,  or  by  way  of  contrast,  illustrated.  It  is  as 
much  the  plan  of  the  Divine  author  to  deter  from  sin  and  its 
final  ruin  as  to  attract  by  holiness.  Hence  the  Bible  is  singu- 
larly prolific  in  its  illustrations  of  the  evil  of  sin — how  offensive 
it  is  in  the  sight  of  God — how  blighting  it  is  in  all  its  develop- 
ments in  this  world,  and  how  finally  damning  to  the  immortal 
soul.  The  Bible,  therefore,  not  the  less  abounds  in  histories, 
biographies  and  narratives  illustrative  of  this  sad  topic. 

One  can  scarcely  overlook  the  delightful  fact  that  the  Bible 
presents  such  a  variety  of  considerations,  expressed  in  every 
conceivable  form,  to  deter  men  from  sin ;  and  so  many  and 
such  various  motives  to  lead  them  in  the  paths  of  righteous- 
ness. Nor  would  we  overlook  the  vast  variety  of  topics, 
thoughts  ana  considerations,  as  expressed  in  ten  thousand  dif- 
ferent ways,  which  are  designed  to  excite  and  cherish  in  the 
soul  the  devotional  feelings.  The  motives  thus  held  out  to 
draw  men  to  God  are  more  than  we  can  number. 

Again,  the  style  of  the  Bible  is  worthy  of  a  remark  in  this 
connection.  Written  by  so  many  different  individuals,  during 


260  THE   PALACE    OF   T;iE   GREAT   KING. 

so  long  a  period  of  time,  and  in  so  many  different  countries,  its 
style  must  vary  accordingly.  Each  writer  brought  his  own 
peculiar  qualifications  to  the  work — his  own  idiosyncracies — his 
own  mental  aptitudes — his  own  caste  of  piety.  Hence  no  two 
wrote  in  the  same  style — no  two  illustrated  the  same  truth  in 
the  same  manner — each  drew  his  illustrations  from  the  manners, 
customs  and  scenery  of  his  own  country ;  and  the  composition 
of  each  was  highly  tinged  with  the  history  of  his  own  times, 
and  the  topics  which  each  discussed  strikingly  partook  of  the 
age  in  which  he  lived. 

The  great  variety  in  the  modes  of  teaching  in  the  Bible,  is 
not  the  less  worthy  of  remark.  Besides  history  and  prophecy, 
touching  narratives  and  terse  maxims  and  sayings,  the  Bible 
abounds  in  poetry,  parables  and  proverbs ;  in  types,  shadows 
and  symbols — in  all  sorts  of  figures  of  speech  which  can  give 
interest,  life  and  variety  to  its  teachings.  Indeed,  we  can 
scarcely  conceive  of  a  mode  of  illustration  and  enforcing  truth, 
and  of  arresting  the  mind  and  reaching  the  heart  and  con- 
science which  it  does  not  adopt.  Nothing  is  left  unsaid — no 
argument  is  left  untried  which  might  convince,  persuade  or 
draw  by  example.  As  a  literary  treasure  the  Bible  is  singu- 
larly rich  and  varied. 

2.  We  should  arrive  at  the  same  conclusion  were  we  to 
contemplate  Divine  Truth  as  a  means  of  converting  the  sinner, 
or  sanctifying  the  saint.  It  abounds  in  instructions — motives 
— commands — invitations  and  threatenings,  presented  in  every 
possible  form,  and  urged  by  every  possible  consideration,  to 
arrest  the  erring  and  to  turn  his  wayward  feet  in  the  way  of 
righteousness  and  peace.  It  meets  the  sinner  at  every  turn 
and  corner,  rebukes  his  waywardness,  and  spares  no  pains  to 


RICH   MORAL,   RESOURCES    OF   THE    BIBLE.  261 

< 

rescue  him  from  impending  ruin.     It  holds  out  before  him 
every  inducement  that  he  should  choose  the  way  of  life. 

And  in  like  manner  the  child  of  God,  who  desires  that  he 
may  grow  in  grace  and  in  a  knowledge  of  God  his  Saviour, 
comes  to  this  fountain  of  living  waters — to  these  green  pas- 
tures of  eternal  Truth,  and  how  is  his  soul  satisfied  with  every 
good  thing !  It  is  to  him  a  feast  of  fat  things.  So  abundant 
and  varied  is  this  Bread  of  life,  that  not  a  want  is  left  uncared 
for.  Is  he  joyful  ?  the  songs  of  JZion  are  put  into  his  mouth. 
Is  he  afflicted  and  cast  down  ?  the  voice  of  Divine  Truth  hails 
him  to  the  healing  waters,  whose  consolations  are  neither  few 
nor  small.  Do  the  burdens  of  life  oppress  him  ?  Does  the  bur- 
den of  sin  crush  him  down  ?  Do  clouds  and  darkness  surround 
him  without,  and  a  deeper  darkness  enshroud  his  soul  within  ? 
he  has  his  remedy.  Sacred  Truth,  in  some  of  its  endlessly 
varied  aspects  and  applications,  is  at  once  the  fountain  of  his 
consolation,  and  his  never  failing  remedy.  Does  he  sigh  for 
greater  measures  of  grace,  a  closer  walk  with  God,  a  nearer 
likeness  to  Christ,  a  more  perfect  assimilation  to  the  Divine  na- 
ture, he  finds  the  Bible  doubly  rich  in  all  the  resources  needful 
to  realize  such  an  end. 

How  does  the  Bible  abound  in  ways  and  means  without 
number,  to  set  life  and  death  before  the  soul !  It  appeals  to 
every  passion — to  every  interest — to  self-love — to  our  sense  of 
honor,  of  right,  of  gratitude — it  presents  every  motive  that  can 
be  drawn  from  heaven,  earth  or  hell,  that  the  soul  should  as- 
pire heavenward.  How  manifold  is  the  wisdom  of  God,  as 
made  known  in  his  word :  "  Suited  to  every  sinner's  case." 

There  is  not  a  virtue  which  some  Bible  truth,  doctrine,  pre- 
cept or  maxim  is  not  fitted  to  produce  and  cherish  in  the  soul  »• 


262  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GKEAT   KING. 

nor  is  there  a  vice  which  it  does  not  rebuke,  and,  if  not  resist- 
ed, surely  annihilate.  Its  resources  for  purifying  the  heart  and 
cultivating  every  thing  in  the  soul  that  is  lovely  and  of  good 
report,  are  as  abundant  and  various  as  all  the  devices  of  sin 
which  are  to  be  met  and  eradicated,  and  all  the  forms  of  love 
to  be  cultivated,  can  possibly  require. 

"  What  thoughts  around  thy  sacred  pages  cling, 
Great  master- volume  of  exhaustless  lore ! 

Here  man  mature,  and  youth  in  life's  green  spring, 
Gather  new  treasures  to  their  scanty  store ; 

Science  and  art,  the  themes  of  every  age, 

Find  their  reflection  in  thy  ample  page. 

"  But  more  than  all,  what  holy  truths  are  thine, 
What  lights  to  guide  the  pilgrim  on  his  way  ! 

In  sorrow's  hour  what  solaces  divine  ! 

In  death  what  props  the  trembling  soul  to  stay ! 

Oh,  in  all  times  what  hopes  through  thee  are  given, 

To  fit  the  spirit  for  its  home  in  heaven !  " 

3.  The  adaptations  of  Divine  Truth  to  every  want  and 
every  possible  condition  of  life,  again,  beautifully  illustrates  its 
variety. 

In  nothing  is  the  Bible  a  more  remarkable  book  than  in  its 
adaptations  to  every  want,  to  every  state  of  mind,  to  every 
condition  in  life,  whether  temporal  or  spiritual.  Are  you  rich  ? 
The  Bible  warns  you  against  the  dangers,  the  temptations  and 
the  deceitfulness  of  riches — against  the  pride  and  oftentimes 
foolish  extravagance — the  selfishness  and  avarice  which  riches 
too  often  engender :  ever  cautioning  them  who  have  great  pos- 
sessions "how  hardly  shall  they  that  are  rich  enter  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  Are  you  poor  I  You  share  richly  then  in  the 


HOW    ADAPTED   TO    ATT.    CONDITIONS.  263 

consolations,  comforts  and  promises  of  God's  word.  To  the 
poor  the  gospel  is  preached — to  them  who  are  destitute  of  the 
good  things  of  this  life  hath  God  spoken  with  a  double  fre- 
quency and  a  peculiar  tenderness.  Christ's  mission  on  earth 
was  in  some  special  sense  to  the  poor.  He  relieved  their  tem- 
poral wants — healed  their  diseases — sympathized  in  their  in- 
firmities— took  on  him  their  lowly  condition — spent  most  of 
his  time  among  them — and  especially  was  he  at  great  pains  to 
teach  them  how  they  might  be  rich  towards  God — heirs  of  God 
to  an  incorruptible  treasure. 

Are  you  prospered?  Are  your  relations  in  life  happy? 
Does  health  smile  in  your  dwelling  I  The  Bible  has  much  to 
say  to  you,  how  God's  goodness  ought  to  lead  you  to  repent- 
ance— how  you  ought  to  do  good  and  communicate — how  em- 
ploy the  advantages  which  health,  and  influence  and  social 
position  give  you  to  the  honor  of  the  bountiful  Author  of  all 
this  goodness.  Or  are  you,  on  the  other  hand,  depressed, 
afflicted  and  plagued  all  the  day  long.  Sickness  enters  your 
dwelling — wasting  disease  mars  the  strength  and  beauty  of 
your  household,  and  spreads  the  dark  clouds  of  sorrow  around ; 
or  death  with  his  relentless  scythe  cuts  down  some  beloved  one, 
and  fills  the  once  happy  circle  with  lamentation  and  woe. 
You  now  find  the  Bible  your  own  Book,  written  to  cast  light 
on  your  dark  path,  and  to  lift  up  the  head  that  hangs  down, 
and  to  support  you  under  these  burdens  and  bereavements  of 
life.  How  does  the  Bible  abound  in  supports  and  consolations 
to  the  weary  and  the  heavy  laden — to  the  oppressed  and  suf- 
fering of  every  name  and  degree !  But  it  is  not  the  abundance 
of  these  consolations  that  we  are  called  upon  alone  to  admire  ; 


264  THE   PALACE   OE   THE   GREAT   KING. 

it  is  their  beautiful  adaptation  to  every  case — their  singular 
variety.  Here  the  Bible  is  one  exhaustless  storehouse. 

Are  you  in  the  path  of  duty  *?  The  Bible  is  now  a  light  to 
your  feet  and  a  lamp  to  your  path.  It  is  your  counsellor  and 
guide,  and  if  you  will  heed  its  oft  repeated  and  varied  precepts 
you  shall  not  be  left  to  wander  in  forbidden  paths.  Or  are 
you  out  of  the  path  of  duty  ? — lukewarm,  backslidden — stumb- 
•  ling  on  the  dark  mountains  of  sin — strayed  as  sheep  from  their 
shepherd.  The  good  spirit  that  dictated  the  Divine  word  did 
not  overlook  you,  though  you  be  afar  off.  How  frequently  are 
you  rebuked  for  your  wanderings — how  frequently  invited  to 
return — and  what  encouragements,  what  precious  promises  of 
forgiveness  and  a  restoration  to  the  Divine  favor,  if  you  will 
return  to  allegiance  and  duty. 

Again,  has  your  mind  been  highly  cultivated  and  expanded 
by  education  1  Do  you  love  to  search  into  the  deep  things  of 
God — to  study  the  mysteries  of  redemption  ?  Are  you  inter- 
ested to  know  the  origin,  the  history  and  the  destiny  of  our 
world — and  the  more  mysterious  origin,  history  and  destiny  of 
man,  the  sacred  volume  is  here,  too,  an  exhaustless  fountain. 
And  especially  if  we  embrace  here  the  great  and  profound 
things  of  Eedemption,  we  have  a  theme  which  is  most  prolifi- 
cally  discussed  and  enforced  in  Holy  Writ.  It  is  a  field  bound- 
less and  variegated.  No  matter  how  profound  and  excursive 
the  mind  which  is  brought  to  the  exploration  of  this  field,  no 
limit  is  ever  reached.  The  mind  of  a  Newton  or  an  Edwards 
feels  no  exhaustion  of  the  theme.  The  deeper  they  penetrated 
into  the  mysteries  revealed  in  the  sacred  pages,  the  higher 
they  soared  amidst  their  sublimities,  the  more  they  felt  that 
there  lies  beyond  any  present  investigations,  illimitable  fields 


ADAPTED   TO   THE   UNLETTERED   AND   IGNORANT.         265 

on  which  the  Bible  has  thrown  just  light  enough  to  stimulate 
and  aid  their  researches,  but  not  enough  to  relieve  the  mind 
of  exertion.  The  Bible  is  remarkably  adapted  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  the  most  intellectual  class  of  its  readers. 

Nor  is  its  adaptation  less  worthy  of  remark  in  reference  to 
the  unlettered  and  ignorant.  The  Bible,  in  a  remarkable 
manner,  comes  down  to  the  condition  of  this  large  class  of  our 
race,  and  adapts  itself  to  the  measure  of  their  understanding. 
All  the  great  fundamental  truths  of  our  Religion,  are  so  sim- 
plified as  to  be  brought  within  the  compass  of  the  humblest  mind. 
So  abundant,  indeed,  are  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  addressed 
to  the  masses  of  mankind,  as  to  indicate  that  this  wonderful 
Book  was,  in  some  special  sense,  given  to  them. 

Again,  the  adaptations  of  Divine  truth  to  every  moral 
state  of  the  Christian,  indicates  other  sources  of  variety.  Are 
you  fervent  in  spirit  serving  the  Lord ;  is  your  walk  close  with 
God  ;  your  supreme  affections-  set  on  things  above ;  and  you, 
body  and  soul,  consecrated  to  him  who  has  bought  you  with  a 
price  ?  Precious,  then,  will  be  to  you  the  living  oracles  of  God. 
As  food  to  the  hungry,  as  water  to  the  thirsty,  so  is  this 
heavenly  manna  to  all  such  as  have  received  the  baptism  from 
above.  To  no  class  of  Christians  is  a  greater  portion  of  the 
Scriptures  adapted.  To  them,  in  a  special  sense,  they  are  pro- 
fitable for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in 
righteousness.  They  are  ever  reaching  onward  and  upward 
for  larger  measures  of  grace  and  a  more  perfect  conformity  to 
God  their  Saviour.  They  find  the  Word  to  be  life  and  spirit, 
in  carrying  on  the  great  work  of  sanctification  in  the  soul. 
They  feel  in  their  innermost  souls  the  congeniality  and  adapt- 
edness  of  the  living  Word  to  meet  all  their  spiritual  aspira- 
12 


266  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GEEAT   KING. 

tions,  and  to  guide  and  aid  them  in  all  their  struggles  to  over- 
come the  world  and  rise  to  the  mansions  of  the  blessed.  They 
are  ready  to  appropriate  the  whole  volume  to  their  own  use. 
Their  unfeigned  testimony  is,  "  the  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect, 
converting  the  soul ;  the  testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure,  making 
wise  the  simple  ;  the  statutes  of  the  Lord  are  right,  rejoicing 
the  heart ;  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  is  pure,  enlightening 
the  eyes  ;  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  clean,  -enduring  forever ;  the 
judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether. 
More  to  be  desired  are  they  than  gold,  yea,  than  much  fine 
gold ;  sweeter  also  than  the  honey  and  the  honey-comb.  More- 
over, by  them  is  thy  servant  warned ;  and  in  keeping  them 
there  is  great  reward." 

And  in  like  manner,  too,  he  who  has  departed  from  his 
God,  who  has  turned  his  back  on  heaven,  and  been  false  to  his 
God  and  his  duty ;  who  has  become  engrossed  in  the  world ; 
who  is  lean  in  spirit  and  forgetful  of  the  Lord  that  bought  him, 
finds  the  Bible  full  of  reproofs  and  warnings  against  his  pre- 
sent course  of  alienation  and  disobedience,  and  equally  full  of 
promises  and  proffers  of  aid  if  he  will  repent  and  return  to  his 
duty  and  his  God. 

Joyous  in  spirit,  or  depressed  in  spirit,  abounding  in  the 
love  of  God  and  richly  replenished  with  every  grace ;  or  pining 
in  spiritual  penury  ;  mourning  and  bereaved  ;  living  or  dying, 
each  finds  a  "  word  fitly  spoken  "  to  his  case.  It  speaks  peace 
to  the  righteous  ;  rest  to  the  weary ;  comfort  to  the  mourner ; 
hope  and  support  to  the  dying,  and  eternal  blessedness  to  all 
who  love  and  reverence  the  Son.  And  not  the  less  does  it 
utter  threatenings  to  the  wicked,  alarm  to  the  careless,  and 
eternal  abandonment  to  all  who  lay  not  up  a  treasure  in  heaven. 


THE   BIBLE   THE   MIRROR    OF   TRUTH.  267 

Though  Divine  Truth  be  so  singularly  diversified,  and  this 
wonderful  variety  so  admirably  meets  the  equally  varied  wants 
of  man,  yet  there  is  perhaps  not  a  truth  which  will  impress 
any  two  minds  precisely  alike,  and  produce  the  same  convic- 
tion. And  so,  by  the  way,  we  might  say  of  the  teachings  of 
Providence,  and  all  other  means  and  agencies  employed  to 
teach  man  the  great  lesson  of  immortality.  The  same  dispen- 
sation of  Providence  will  not  produce  the  same  result  on  any 
two  individuals.  One  will  learn  one  lesson  from  it,  another  a 
different  lesson. 

Thus  is  the  Bible  a  mirror  reflecting  every  truth  needed  to 
meet  all  the  possible  wants  of  man.  Would  we  know  ourselves 
we  must  look  into  this  mirror,  for  here  only  shall  we  see  a  cor- 
rect likeness.  But  woe  to  us  if,  having  looked  into  the  glass, 
wre  go  away  and  forget  what  manner  of  men  we  are. 

Or  would  we  know  God :  how  high,  how  holy  he  is,  yet 
how  condescending ;  how  just  and  yet  how  ready  to  show 
mercy ;  how  much  he  has  done  and  will  do  to  support  his  jus- 
tice, yet  how  willing  to  pardon ;  would  we  study  the  character 
of  God,  would  we  array  before  us  his  fearful,  his  lovely  attri- 
butes ;  see  God  as  love  to  the  man  of  a  meek  and  humble 
spirit,  but  as  a  consuming  fire  to  all  the  workers  of  iniquity ; 
the  only  fountain  of  such  is  the  Bible.  There  is  knowledge 
high  as  heaven ;  profound  as  the  lowest  deep.  Do  you  ask 
how  God  can  maintain  his  justice,  and  yet  pardon  the  rebel ; 
how  punish  sin,  yet  let  the  sinner  go  free  ?  Open  your  Bible, 
and  you  will  find  unfolded  there  a  plan  most  wonderful, 
gracious,  mysterious,  by  which  God  can  be  just,  and  yet  justify 
the  believing  sinner ;  a  plan  which  no  human  wisdom  could 
have  devised,  and  which  angels  love  to  contemplate.  Nowhere 


268  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

else  is  such  wisdom  found ;  nowhere  else  are  revealed  themes 
of  so  profound  personal  interest  to  ourselves.  "Search  the 
Scriptures,"  for  in  them  ye  have  eternal  life;  and  they  are 
they  which  testify  of  our  highest  interests  here,  and  of  our  best 
interests  in  the  eternal  world. 

Nowhere  else  do  you  find  a  book  that  parts  the  folds  which 
curtain  from  our  view  the  unknown  future,  and  gives  us  a 
glimpse,  through  intervening  clouds,  of  that  world  where 
angels  sing  and  devils  wail.  Kevelation  apart,  futurity  is  a 
dark  unknown.  That  the  soul  should  live  beyond  the  grave, 
how  it  shall  live,  for  what  purpose,  and  in  what  condition,  we 
should  know  but  little  beyond  a  dark  conjecture.  And  as 
little  should  we  know  in  reference  to  a  state  of  reward  and 
punishment.  Whether  death  be  an  eternal  sleep,  or  the  soul 
at  death  migrate  into  the  body  of  some  animal  or  tree,  the 
light  of  nature  may  conjecture  ;  while  by  the  light  of  revela- 
tion we  know  it  shall  "  be  well  with  the  righteous,"  but  it 
shall  "not  be  well  with  the  wicked."  The  righteous  shall 
shine  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever ;  the  wicked  shall  be  shut 
up  in  outer  darkness,  where  shall  be  weeping,  and  wailing  and 
gnashing  of  teeth. 

Would  you  have  your  pathway  through  the  dark  valley 
illumined,  and  a  guide  to  conduct  you  to  the  presence  of  the 
eternal  Glory ;  would  you  learn  the  language  of  Canaan,  and 
survey,  beforehand,  the  celestial  fields,  and  hear  the  songs  of 
the  angels,  and  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  ineffable  glory  of  the 
Lamb ;  unroll  the  Sacred  Volume,  and  in  the  spirit  of  heaven 
read  its  golden  lines. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

How  various  the  dealings  of  Providence  by  which*  men  are  brought  to  the  Saviour 
—and  how  various  the  manner  by  which  the  means  of  grace  in  different 
individuals  are  made  effectual. 

THERE  remains  yet  another  aspect  in  which  to  present  man  in 
his  moral  relations.  We  refer  to  the  various  ways  by  which 
sinners  are  brought  to  Christ,  or  the  children  of  God  sanctified ; 
whether  it  be  by  the  truth  and  other  ordinary  means  of  grace, 
or  by  the  kind  interposition  of  Providence.  We  can  scarcely 
separate  the  two ;  for  there  is  often  so  much  that  is  Provi- 
dential in  the  preparation  of  the  mind  to  receive  the  truth,  or 
in  bringing  the  individual  in  circumstances  to  be  favorably 
acted  on ;  or  the  enforcement  of  the  truth  on  the  awakened 
mind  and  the  enlightened  conscience,  that  we  cannot  but 
assign  to  Providence  a  very  prominent  place  in  the  work  of 
saving  the  soul. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  variegated  character  of  God's  truth  as 
suited  to  meet  the  essential  wants  of  man,  to  engender  and 
nourish  into  maturity  an  equally  variegated  series  of  graces 
and  virtues,  to  hold  out  a  promise,  to  ply  a  threatening,  to 
offer  consolation,  to  proffer  needed  aid,  in  every  possible  condi- 
tion of  life.  And  we  have  seen  how  singularly  Christian  char- 
acter and  experience  differ,  indicating  that  all  God's  moral 


270          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEEAT  KING. 

creations  present  the  same  infinite  variety  as  we  know  all  his 
physical  creations  do. 

But  the  thought  presents  another  aspect :  the  various  ways 
and  means  by  which  men  are  first  brought  into  a  saving  re- 
lation to  Christ.  Each  individual  has  an  experience  here 
peculiarly  his  own — each  entered  the  kingdom  by  means,  or 
under  circumstances,  or  drawn  by  motives,  differing  from  those 
of  any  other  individual. 

Glorified  saints  will,  in  this  respect,  each  have  a  different  his- 
tory to  relate.  Paul  will  tell  how  the  Crucified  one  met  him 
suddenly  when  on  his  way  to  Damascus,  and  wicketlly  intent  on 
the  destruction  of  the  Christians  and  the  extinction  of  Chris- 
tianity. Andrew  and  John  needed  but  a  word  from  John  the 
Baptist,  and  they  instantly  followed  Christ.  Peter  will  repeat 
to  the  eternal  praise  of  God,  how  Andrew  his  brother  sought  him 
out,  told  him  of  Jesus,  and  brought  him  into  the  fold.  Jesus 
himself  speaks  directly  to  Philip,  and  he  unhesitatingly  yields 
to  the  heavenly  mandate,  and  follows  the  man  of  Nazareth ; 
and  he  in  turn  becomes  the  bearer  of  the  heavenly  message  to 
Nathaniel.  This  guileless  Israelite  can  rehearse  to  the  wonder- 
ing universe  how  Philip  sought  him  out,  told  him  how  he  had 
seen  that  wonderful  stranger,  foreseen  of  prophets  and  longed- 
for  by  saints  of  old  ;  and  he  brought  him  to  Jesus.  Nor  will 
Matthew  ever  cease  to  incorporate  into  his  eternal  song  of  praise 
the  grateful  recollection  that  the  voice  of  Sovereign  Mercy 
reached  him  while  engaged  in  the  fraudulent,  oppressive  acts 
of  his  odious  office.  Jesus  passed  by  and  bade  him  follow  him. 

Fishermen  were  called  while  casting  their  nets  into  the  sea : 
others  gave  heed  to  the  heavenly  voice,  because  of  a  mirac- 
ulous draught  of  fishes  :  others,  because  he  feeds  a  great  mul- 


VARIOUS   WATS    OF   COMING   TO    CHBIST.  271 

titude  with  a  few  loaves  and  fishes  :  and  others,  because  of 
some  extraordinary  cure,  or  some  other  wonderful  miracle. 
The  woman  of  Samaria  who  met  Christ  at  the  well,  and  all 
those  u  Samaritans  that  believed  on  him  for  the  saying  of  the 
woman,"  can  never  cease  to  admire  the  wonderful  Providence 
that  brought  her  to  the  well  at  the  favored  moment  when  the 
Lord  of  life  was  there.  Mercy  overtook  them  in  an  hour  the 
most  unexpected.  Angels  wonder  that  fields  all  white  for  the 
harvest  were  found  among  a  people  supposed  to  be  shut  out 
from  the  merciful  interposition  of  Heaven.  How  readily  did 
Christ  receive  this  unfortunate  woman,  and  make  her  the  mes- 
senger of  good  tidings  to  a  great  multitude  from  the  city. 

But  how  differently  did  he  receive  the  poor  penitent 
woman  of  Canaan.  She  cried  after  him — she  fell  down  and 
worshipped  him,,  saying,  "  Lord  help  me."  The  disciples  be- 
came impatient  of  her  importunity,  and  besought  the  Lord  to  send 
her  away.  And  Christ  still  put  her  off.  But,- like  poor  Bartimeus, 
her  eternal  song  of  praise  will  not  the  less  abound  that  Christ 
did  at  length  hear  her  cry,  and  grant  her  a  gracious  smile. 

Nicodemus  came  to  Christ  under  the  cover  of  the  night, 
yet  how  kindly  did  Christ  receive  him,  and  how  patiently 
teach  him,  unfolding  to  his  ingenuous  mind  all  the  great 
truths  of  the  gospel.  I  know  not  that  Christ  any  where  showed 
so  special  a  regard  to  an  individual.  A  teacher  in  Israel  is 
received  as  a  little  child  by  the  teacher  sent  from  God,  and  is 
taught  what  be  the  "  first  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ." 
Again,  an  earthquake — a  mighty  display  of  divine  power, 
shakes  the  prison  at  Philippi.  It  is  in  vindication  of  the  reli- 
gion of  Paul  and  Peter.  It  is  an  arrow  of  conviction  to  the 
heart  of  the  jailor.  He  comes  in  trembling,  falls  down  at  the 


272         THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEEAT  KING. 

feet  of  the  apostles,  and  asks  what  he  must  do  to  be  saved. 
Christ  met  him  at  this  extraordinary  juncture,  and  spoke  peace 
to  his  troubled  soul. 

Some  are  drawn  into  the  kingdom  by  the  sweet  influences 
of  love.  The  still  small  voice  speaks,  and  they  obey.  Others 
are  overtaken  as  by  an  earthquake  or  a  thunderbolt,  and  are 
forced  in  as  by  the  arm  of  the  Almighty.  Some  are  suddenly 
aroused  as  by  the  outstretched  arm  of  Mercy ;  and  while  yet 
their  feet  take  hold  on  death,  they  are  snatched  as  brands 
from  the  burning.  Good  old  Samuel  cannot  recall  when  he 
first  yielded  his  heart  to  his  God.  He  served  God  from  his 
infancy — seemed  a  child  of  Heaven  from  his  birth.  The  thief 
on  the  cross  heard  not  the  words  of  pardoning  grace  till  the 
last  sands  of  life  were  running  out,  and  his  probation  was  just 
closing. 

And  who  will  have  a  stranger  story  to  relate  of  his  intro- 
duction into  the  upper  kingdom,  than  the  once  proud  and 
vaunting,  the  oppressive  and  ungodly  Nebuchadnezzar.  During 
seven  long  and  weary  years  he  is  driven  from  his  kingdom — 
humbled  for  his  sins  to  the  level  of  the  beast — made  to  eat 
grass  like  the  ox — his  body  was  wet  with  the  dews  of  heaven, 
till  his  hair  became  as  feathers,  and  his  nails  as  birds'  claws : 
when  at  length  he  was  restored  to  his  right  mind,  and  brought 
to  acknowledge  the  God  of  Heaven.  He  blessed  the  Most 
High,  and  praised  and  honored  Him  that  liveth  forever. 
"  Now  I,  Nebuchadnezzar,  praise  and  extol  and  honor  the  king 
of  heaven,  all  whose  works  are  truth,  and  his  ways  judgment: 
and  those  who  walk  in  pride  he  is  able  to  abase." 

One,  like  Mary  Magdalene,  may  tell  how  quickly  Christ  re- 
vealed himself  to  her ;  another,  like  Cleopas  and  his  com- 


THE  DEALINGS  OF  PROVIDENCE.  273 

panion  in  his  walk  to  Emmaus,  how  long  he  delayed  to  make 
himself  known  to  him.  Another  meets  Christ  in  the  field,  or 
the  workshop,  on  the  journey  or  by  the-fire  side,  when  at  their 
daily  avocations.  To  others  Christ  makes  known  his  saving 
power  in  the  sanctuary,  in  the  house  of  prayer,  or  in  the 
closet.  Some,  like  Mary  Magdalene  after  the  resurrection, 
address  Christ  first;  in  great  agony  and  earnestness  they 
urge  their  suit  and  seem  to  be  denied;  others  seem  first 
spoken  to  by  Christ  and  gently  led  to  the  cross.  Endlessly 
varied  indeed  are  the  methods  which  Sovereign  Mercy  takes 
to  gather  in  the  jewels  of  the  great  king.  Some  are  led, 
some  drawn  by  the  light  of  truth  and  the  sweet  influences  of 
love  and  goodness — some  are  driven  by  the  stern  force  of  ad- 
versity or  some  terrible  display  of  the  Divine  power  and  majesty. 

Nothing  is  fraught  with  more  mystery  to  us  than  the  very 
different  dealings  of  Providence  with  persons  who  seem  to  us 
to  be  in  a  condition  of  life,  and  to  possess  a  character  very  simi- 
lar. One  is  prospered — is  successful  in  trade,  or  his  fields 
yield  a  rich  return  for  his  labor  ;  his  children  grow  up  about 
him,  affectionate  and  prosperous,  and  has  abundant  occasion 
to  say,  "  goodness  and  mercy  have  followed  me  all  the  days 
of  my  life."  Another — and  we  know  not  but  he  is  quite  as 
worthy — is  plagued  all  the  day  long.  Judgments  are  un- 
sparingly mingled  with  his  mercies.  Often  does  the  drought 
desolate  his  fields,  or  the  winds  or  the  waves,  fire  or  the  law- 
lessness and  violence  of  man,  ruin  his  business  ;  or  sickness 
spreads  the  gloom  of  death  over  his  household,  or  cruel  bereave- 
ment clothes  his  dwelling  in  mourning. 

And  the  same  person  experiences,  at  different  periods, 
providential  dealings  altogether  different.  Why  these  diversi- 
12* 


274  THE  PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

fied  providences,  in  circumstances,  perhaps,  very  similar?  If, 
as  has  been  intimated,  it  is  the  plan  of  Divine  Wisdom  to  ply 
the  soul  of  erring  man  with  every  possible  means  for  his  rescue 
— to  set  life  and  death  before  him  in  every  possible  form — to 
urge  him  by  every  possible  motive — to  present  truth  in  every 
aspect ;  and  if  it  be  the  plan  to  prepare  in  this  vineyard  below, 
every  variety  of  Christian  graces  and  virtues  for  transplanta- 
tion to  the  Paradise  above,  then  we  see  reason  why  God  should 
diversify  his  providences  as  widely  as  he  has  his  word  and  his 
works.  We  need  not,  therefore,  doubt  that  all  these  various 
and  sometimes  seemingly  unequal,  if  not  contradictory  provi- 
dences, are,  though  in  different  ways,  working  out  one  and  the 
same  great  end.  Every  providential  warning  or  encourage- 
ment, every  trial  or  affliction,  every  hope  or  joy  we  experi- 
ence, is  designed  and  fitted  to  cultivate  some  particular  grace 
in  the  soul,  or  to  eradicate  some  particular  sin. 

Providence  is  a  sealed  book.  Its  teachings  are  rather  for 
discipline  than  for  instruction.  In  reference  to  our  limited 
understandings  its  events  are  very  much  veiled  in  mystery. 
We  are  but  poor  interpreters  till  the  end  comes.  Provi- 
dence is  a  mighty  teacher,  like  a  great  book  of  enigmas, 
unfolding  one  wonder  after  another,  yet  each  remaining  a 
mystery  till,  by  unfeigned  aquiescence,  and  a  ready  obedi- 
ence, we  get  the  key  that  unlocks  the  whole.  "We  walk 
in  a  way  which  we  know  not.  We  labor  for  our  Master, 
but  never  know  beforehand  which  shall  prosper,  whether 
this  or  that.  The  hand  that  beckons  us  along  to  glory, 
waves  at  us  out  of  impenetrable  clouds.  We  lay  wise  plans, 
but  they  miscarry.  We  commit  gross  blunders,  and  they  are 
overruled  for  good.  We  run  towards  the  light,  and  find  it 


A   PARTIAL   REVELATION   THE   END.  275 

darkness.  We  pray  for  joys,  and  they  bring  us  pains.  We 
murmur  at  God's  judgments,  and  they  are  big  with  blessings. 
We  run  towards  the  doors  to  which  worldly  ambition  has  called 
us,  and  only  a  solid  wall  is  across  our  path.  We  move  against 
that  wall  at  the  call  of  duty,  and  it  opens  to  let  us  through. 
The  lines  of  our  lives  are  all  in  God's  hands.  What  shall  be- 
fall us  we  cannot  know.  What  is  expedient,  we  cannot  tell. 
Only  this  we  know,  that  God  would  shape  us  to  himself,  whether 
it  be  by  the  discipline  of  joy  or  the  discipline  of  sorrow.  To 
make  us  perfect  as  he  is  perfect,  this  is  the  choice  of  our  Heav- 
enly Father ;  this  is  the  end  of  all  his  revelations :  while  every- 
thing not  helpful  to  this,  he  hides  away  out  of  our  sight. 
Verily,  '  the  secret  things  belong  unto  the  Lord  our  God ;  but 
those  things  which  are  revealed  belong  unto  us  and  to  our 
children  forever,  that  we  may  do  all  the  words  of  this  law.' 
A  partial  revelation,  then,  is  the  method,  and  obedience  the 
end."* 

So  diversified  and  strange,  indeed,  are  the  Divine  dispen- 
sations that  you  may  not,  in  any  given  case,  make  any  calcu- 
lation what  they  will  be — though  we  may,  with  the  greatest 
assurance,  reckon  on  the  uniformity  of  the  laws  of  Nature  and 
the  continuance  of  the  Divine  rectitude  and  beneficence.  Fol- 
low through  life  any  two  individuals  who  started  out  with 
equal  prospects  of  success,  and  you  will  meet  little  but  con- 
trast in  their  future  histories.  The  one  is  the  child  of  pros- 
perity, the  other  of  adversity.  The  one  stumbles  in  a  dark 
way  and  sees  not  when  good  cometh,  the  other  scarcely  knows 
the  footsteps  of  evils.  How  varied  have  we  all,  as  a  matter 
of  personal  experience,  found  the  dispensations  of  Providence. 

*  Prof.  R.  D.  Hitchcock,  New  York. 


276  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

We  are  conducted  in  a  "path  which  no  fowl  knoweth,  and 
which  the  vulture's  eye  hath  not  seen."  How  few  of  all,  now 
of  adult  age,  are  enjoying  the  condition  in  life  and  pursuing 
the  course,  which,  in  the  buoyancy  of  youth  and  in  the  season 
of  confidence  and  hope,  they  had  marked  out  for  themselves ! 
One  has  followed  the  star  of  his  destiny  here  and  another  there, 
till  they  remain  but  illustrations  of  the  manifold  ways  of  an  all- 
controlling  Providence. 

But  of  one  thing  we  may  ever  rest  assured.  It  is  that  all 
the  dispensations  of  Providence,  whether  seemingly  adverse  or 
prosperous,  are  designed  to  correct  the  wayward,  to  bring 
back  the  wanderer  to  duty  and  to  God — to  abase  the  proud 
and  to  raise  up  the  humble,  and  to  build  and  beautify  the  new 
Jerusalem  with  living  stones  of  every  possible  variety. 

Did  our  limits  permit,  it  would  be  interesting  to  cite  a 
variety  of  instances  like  the  following.  These  will  serve  as 
specimens  of  the  manner  in  which  Providence  is  continually  at 
work  to  turn  men  to  God,  and  as  examples  of  the  oftentimes 
wonderful  means  which  God  takes  to  accomplish  his  purposes. 

The  first  is  what  the  writer  (who  was  personally  interested) 
calls  a  "  solemn  and  terrible  sermon  on  the  Hudson,  on  board 
the  unfortunate  Henry  Clay."  He  writes  to  a  friend  as  fol- 
lows :  "  I  have  not  been  indifferent  to  the  claims  of  religion. 
But  you  will  cease  to  wonder  at  my  late  course  when  I  tell 
you  that  under  the  effect  of  that  solemn  and  terrible  sermon 
preached  to  me  last  summer,  upon  the  Hudson,  by  the  voice  of 
God ;  in  gratitude  for  so  mighty  a  deliverance ;  and  in  breath- 
ing, as  it  were,  the  very  air  of  eternity,  I  cast  myself  upon  my 
knees  on  the  sand,  and,  pouring  out  my  soul  in  thankfulness, 
dedicated  myself  to  Him  who  stood  in  majesty  before  me. 


SEEMON   ON  THE    HUDSON   EIVEE.  277 

How  could  I  have  done  otherwise  ?  Surrounded  by  the  dead 
and  the  dying,  delivered  by  the  special  act  of  Providence  from 
a  destruction  which,  a  moment  before,  claimed  me  for  its  vic- 
tim; with  a  full  vision  of  judgment  and  eternity,  and  my 
past  life  passing  scene  by  scene  before  me ;  how  could  I  do 
otherwise  ?  And  how  can  I  forget  my  deliverance  and  my 
promise?  I  thank  God  for  the  terrors  of  that  hour,  and  will 
carry  the  recollection  of  them  and  of  His  gracious  interposition 
into  eternity  with  me.  Christ  died  to  redeem  me,  and  God 
interposed  between  me  and  death,  bearing  me  above  the  flames 
and  the  waves,  that  he  might  not  die  in  vain.  How  merciful 
to  me,  so  unworthy !  " 

We  should  find  no  end  to  pointing  out  the  diverse  means 
and  the  different  ways  which  the  Lord  employs  to  lead  men  to 
a  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ.  Sometimes  it  is  a  casual  word 
by  the  wayside ;  or  kind  admonition  from  a  fellow-traveller  or 
fellow-laborer  in  the  field  or  in  the  workshop,  or  by  the  fire- 
side. Now  it  is  some  kind  act  or  expression  of  a  friend  ;  now 
the  reproach  of  an  enemy.  It  is  the  stern  voice  of  adversity, 
or  the  benignant  smiles  of  prosperity. 

"  Sometimes  it  is  a  poor  colporteur,  who,  meeting  with  a 
man  proud  of  his  talents  and  his  learning,  addresses  to  him 
words  which  make  a  salutary  impression  on  his  mind."  Again, 
a  servant  woman,  a  beggar,  or  some  poor  ignorant  sufferer,  be- 
comes, in  the  hands  of  God,  the  instrument  of  the  most  pre- 
cious blessings  to  an  intelligent  and  influential  family — who, 
in  turn,  become  the  ministers  of  lasting  good  to  the  wider  cir- 
cle in  which  they  move. 

A  delightful  illustration  of  this  is  found  in  a  narrative  re- 
lated in  a  German  religious  journal,  and  vouched  "for  by  relia- 


278  THE  PALACE   OP  THE   GREAT  KING. 

ble  parties  in  this  country.*  It  is  the  conversion  of  an  infidel 
by  a  child.  A  little  child  of  eight  years  old  became  the  mis- 
sionary and  preacher  to  an  intelligent  infidel  of  high  birth. 
So  well  does  the  narrative  illustrate  the  sovereign  power  of 
God  in  the  conversion  of  the  sinner,  as  well  as  the  singular 
methods  he  adopts  to  effect  it ;  and  so  interesting  is  the  story 
itself,  that  I  may,  without  apology,  introduce  it  entire  as  a 
suitable  close  of  the  chapter  and  a  striking  illustration  of  our 
present  theme : 

"  A  rich  Count,  of  Silesia,  having  frequently  visited  Berlin, 
Frankfort  and  Paris,  had  imbibed  a  bitter  hatred  against 
Christianity.  The  conversation  of  worldly  men,  the  reading 
of  infidel  books,  the  pleasures  to  which  he  was  addicted,  the 
large  fortune  he  enjoyed,  all  had  inclined  his  heart  to  skeptical 
principles.  Eeturning  home,  he  abandoned  himself  without 
restraint  to  sensual  pleasures,  and  openly  professed  infidelity, 
diffusing  this  poisonous  influence  all  around  him. 

"  As  he  had  in  his  gift  the  appointment  of  the  parish  pas- 
tor where  his  domains  lay,  he  called  a  young  minister  whom 
he  had  formerly  known  at  the  university,  and  who  was  no  more 
religious  than  himself.  These  two  men  seemed  to  vie  with 
each  other  in  infidelity.  Being  the  count's  favorite  companion, 
the  unworthy  pastor  sought  only  to  please  his  patron.  Their 
talk  at  table  and  elsewhere  was  often  mere  scoffing  at  sacred 
things,  so  that  the  servants,  frivolous  as  they  were,  could-  not 
avoid  being  shocked. 

"  The  count  was,  as  you  may  think,  highly  pleased  with 
his  pastor.  He  told  him  often  that  his  greatest  delight  would 
be  to  see  all  religious  opinions — which  he  called  superstitions 

*  W.  Y.  Observer. — From  a  correspondent  at  the  Mission  House,  Boston. 


THE   POOK,    PIOUS   LITTLE   GIRL.  270 

— effaced  gradually  from  the  minds  of  his  vassals ;  and  he 
added,  that  if  he  could  obtain  such  a  result,  he  should  think  he 
deserved  well  of  the  country.  The  parish  thus  went  on  very 
badly,  and  impiety  prevailed  in  all  its  forms.  Only  one  man 
— the  schoolmaster — resisted  the  current ;  but  he  had  no  great 
learning  or  authority,  and  he  was  under  the  jealous  watch  of 
the  pastor,  who  did  not  wish  the  children  to  hear  evangelical 
truths,  or,  as  he  said,  to  be  imbued  with  dark  and  gloomy  no- 
tions. 

"  What  human  means  were  there  to  rescue  this  German 
count,  since  the  pastor  himself  encouraged  him  in  his  infideli- 
ty "?  But  that  which  is  impossible  with  man,  is  possible  with 
God.  'A  poor  child  of  about  eight  years,'  writes  the  count 
afterwards  to  one  of  his  friends,  <  was  chosen  by  the  good 
Shepherd  of  our  souls  to  be  an  evangelist  to  me,  and  to  lead 
me  from  infidelity  to  living  faith.  The  event  will  be  for  me  a 
perpetual  motive  to  adore  my  Kedeemer.' 

"  The  case  was  thus  : 

"  One  day  the  count,  walking  over  his  grounds,  heard  the 
sweet  voice  of  a  child  in  a  garden.  He  approached,  and  saw 
a  little  girl  who  was  singing,  seated  on  the  grass,  her  eyes 
moistened  with  tears.  This  sight  excited  his  curiosity ;  he  en- 
tered the  garden,  and  seeing  that  the  little  girl  had  a  sweet 
and  intelligent  air,  he  felt  moved  with  pity,  the  more  so  as  her 
mean  clothing  showed  that  she  belonged  to  a  very  poor  family. 

"  '  Why  do  you  weep  1  are  you  sick,  my  child  ? '  asked  the 
count. 

"'No,'  she  replied,  'but  I  weep  because  I  am  happy — so 
happy ! ' 

" '  How  can  you  weep,  if  you  are  happy  ? '  said  the  count, 
surprised. 


280  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GEEAT  KING. 

" '  Because  I  love  so  much  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ?' 

"  l  Why  do  you  love  him  so  much  I  He  has  been  dead  a 
long  time ;  he  can  do  you  no  good.' 

" '  No,  he  is  not  dead ;  he  lives  in  heaven.' 

" <  And  even  if  this  were  true,  what  benefit  is  it  to  you  ? 
If  he  could  help  you,  he  would  give  money  to  your  mother, 
that  she  might  buy  you  better  clothes.' 

" '  I  do  not  wish  for  money ;  but  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
will  take  me  one  day  to  himself  in  heaven.' 

"'It  is  your  grandam,  or  some  such  person,  who  makes 
you  believe  this.' 

" '  No,  no,  it  is  true,  and  it  makes  me  glad.'  And  the 
child's  eyes  filled  again  with  tears. 

"  These  simple  replies,  this  candor,  this  happiness  in  pov- 
erty, forcibly  struck  the  count's  mind.  He  gave  the  child 
some  money,  and  went  away. 

"  '  Two  things,'  he  writes  in  the  letter  above  cited,  '  occu- 
pied my  thoughts  on  my  return  to  the  house,  and  the  following 
clays.  I  asked  myself,  How  did  such  sentiments  find  their  way 
into  this  child's  soul  ?  for  I  knew  that  neither  the  pastor  nor 
the  schoolmaster  had  imparted  them.  Next  I  wondered  how 
a  child  of  eight  years  could  be  filled  with  such  sincere  love ; 
for  I  had  remarked  in  the  girl's  eyes  an  ardent  affection  for  the 
Kedeemer ;  I  had  seen  that  her  soul  was  happy.  In  vain  I 
sought  a  philosophical  solution  of  this  phenomenon  ;  it  was  in- 
explicable to  me.' 

"  While  he  meditated  on  these  things,  the  count  remem- 
bered another  incident.  Having  set  off  on  a  journey  from 
Cassel  to  Gotha,  eight  or  nine  years  before,  he  stopped  at  New- 
Dietendorf,  a  settlement  of  Moravian  Brethren,  and  was  led  by 


THE  CHILD'S  CONVERSATION.  281 

curiosity,  or  to  beguile  the  time,  to  one  of  their  evening  meet- 
ings. The  pastor  preached  on  a  subject  which  appeared  to  him 
then  very  singular,  namely,  that  the  Lord  honors  persons  who 
profit  by  a  child's  conversation.  This  sermon  excited  the 
count's  sneers  rather  than  his  sympathy.  But  the  subject  re- 
curred now  to  his  mind,  after  his  interview  with  the  little  girl. 
He  thought  continually  on  profiting  by  a  child's  conversation. 

"  On  his  return  home,  he  was  more  serious,  and  avoided 
talking  as  before  on  religious  topics.  The  pastor,  his  constant 
guest,  was  surprised  at  this  reserve ;  but  the  count  did  not 
speak  of  the  conversation  with  the  little  girl,  lest  he  should  be 
ridiculed. 

"  A  week  afterwards  he  was  called  by  his  business  to  journey 
on  the  frontiers  of  Austria.  His  road  led  him  to  Gnadenfrey, 
another  settlement  of  Moravian  Brethren.  He  arrived  there 
at  night.  '  The  next  morning,'  says  he,  *  I  heard  the  bells 
ring,  and  was  told  ft  was  the  children's  festival.  The  director 
allowed  me  to  attend  the  love  feast,  and  the  children's  singing 
pleased  me  much.  I  went  also  to  the  evening  meeting.  The 
preacher  delivered  a  touching  discourse  on  the  text :  "  Have 
ye  never  read,  Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou 
hast  perfected  praise1?"  (Matt.  xxi.  16.)  At  the  close  of 
this  sermon  the  pastor  made  an  affecting  prayer,  in  which  he 
commended  to  the  church's  remembrance  children  and  youth. 
This  service  made  upon  me  so  strong  an  impression,  that  I  am 
sure  it  will  last  throughout  eternity.  I  was  bathed  in  tears.  I 
felt  something  which  I  had  never  experienced  in  my  life  before. 
The  question  which  the  persecutor  Saul  addressed  to  Jesus  on 
the  way  to  Damascus  :  "Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?" 
— this  question  arose  in  my  troubled  soul.  I  continued  to 


282  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

weep  bitterly  till  a  sweet  peace  had  penetrated  my  heart.  I 
felt  then  a  tranquillity  which  words  cannot  express.  I  was 
convinced,  to  my  great  astonishment,  that  the  name  of  Jesus 
— that  name  which  I  could  not  hear  formerly  without  con- 
tempt— was  become  to  me  infinitely  dear  and  precious,  and 
that  I  had  obtained  mercy." 

The  noble  Count  of  Silesia  marches  now  faithfully  under 
the  holy  banner  of  Jesus  Christ,  admiring  and  blessing  the 
ways  of  Providence.  Probably  the  most  learned  theological 
arguments  would  have  been  powerless  against  his  arrogant 
skepticism;  but  what  learning  was  incapable  of  doing,  the 
Lord  did  by  means  of  a  child. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Man's  varied  wants:   Food — Clothing — Habitation — Luxuries.    Land,   Sea,   Mine, 
Forest,  Eiver  taxed  to  supply  these  wants.    Mental  "Wants,— Moral  "Wants. 

I  HAVE  already  extended  my  remarks  on  man  beyond  my 
original  design.  Yet  there  remains  another  topic  not  to  be 
overlooked.  I  refer  to  the  singular  provision  made  to  meet 
man's  wants,  and  the  abundant  resources  which  administer 
to  his  happiness. 

Is  it  asked  again  why  God  so  singularly  variegates  his 
works  and  his  ways  ? — why  he  multiplies  the  creatures  of  his 
hand  in  such  endless  profusion  ?  We  may  return,  at  least,  a 
partial  answer.  He  does  it,  no  doubt,  to  make  himself  known 
to  man.  Such  power  over  matter  as  to  mould  a  few  elemen- 
tary substances  into  such  an  infinite  number  of  forms,  and  to 
give  them  such  an  endless  variety  of  natures,  characters  and 
uses,  each  distinct  from  every  other,  attests  his  infinite  power 
and  universal  control  over  every  particle  of  matter  in  the 
material  universe.  His  wisdom,  his  exhaustless  goodness  to 
his  creatures,  is  manifest  in  this  peculiarity  of  the  Divine 
mode  of  working.  And  yet  more  strikingly  illustrative  of  the 
Divine  skill  are  the  multifarious  ways  of  his  working  in  refer- 
ence to  mind.  Its  connection,  in  any  conceivable  form  or  for 
any  purpose,  with  gross  matter,  is  sufficiently  marvellous.  And 


284  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

more  God-like  yet  is  the  wisdom  and  skill  displayed  in  the 
creation  of  such  gradations  and  varieties  of  mind ;  its  capa- 
bilities, habits  and  tastes  are  so  wonderfully  variegated.  In 
giving  existence  to  all  these  mental  diversities,  God  has  made 
a  beautiful  revelation  of  himself.  It  is  only  in  harmony  with 
what  he  has  done  in  his  material  creations.  In  this  respect, 
too,  he  makes  known  in  his  manifold  works,  his  manifold  wis- 
dom and  goodness. 

Another  reason  why  God  is  at  so  much  pains  to  variegate 
his  works  is  found  in  his  love  to  minister,  in  all  the  plenitude 
of  his  goodness,  to  the  wants  of  his  creatures,  especially  his 
intelligent  creatures.  The  Divine  beneficence  is  as  a  full  and 
overflowing  fountain;  its  pent-up  waters  in  every  direction 
seeking  an  egress.  The  Divine  mind  is  ever  intent  on  devis- 
ing ways  for  new  manifestations  of  his  benevolence.  God 
delights  in  the  happiness  of  his  creatures. 

We  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapter  how  God  reveals 
himself,  in  the  peculiar  feature  of  his  works  which  we  have 
been  contemplating ;  magnifying,  in  every  new  creation,  his 
wisdom  and  goodness  beyond  all  human  thought  or  concep- 
tion. We  shall  now  endeavor  to  get  some  just  idea,  how  God, 
by  a  never-ceasing  diversity  of  his  works,  meets  the  equally 
diversified  wants  of  his  creatures. 

The  wants  of  man  may  be  ranged  in  three  general  classes : 
physical,  intellectual  and  moral.  We  specify  man  because 
he  is  the  noblest  creature  of  God ;  and  his  wants,  especially  in 
his  civilized  condition,  are  vastly  more  numerous  and  varied 
than  those  of  any  other  class  of  animals. 

First,  how  numerous  are  man's  physical  wants,  and  how 
correspondingly  abundant  is  the  supply!  His  food,  clothing, 


MAN'S  ENDLESS  WANTS.  285 

habitation,  luxury,  means  of  defence,  facilities  and  means  of 
locomotion,  all  combine  to  make  constant  and  the  most  liberal 
demands  for  their  supply :  and  in  like  manner  the  preservation 
of  health,  and  all  the  social  and  domestic  comforts  and  enjoy- 
ments of  man.  The  wants  of  man  are  very  much  in  proportion 
to  his  civilization.  As  he  rises  in  the  scale  of  being  from  the 
savage  state  his  wants  constantly  increase.  As  a  savage,  his 
food  is  scarcely  more  than  the  raw  material,  badly  cooked,  badly 
served,  and  scarcely  sufficient  to  keep  body  and  soul  together. 
And  his  clothing  and  habitation  are  but  a  single  remove  from 
those  of  the  brute  creation.  But  how  different  is  man  in  his 
advanced  condition.  For  his  clothing  he  demands  fabrics, 
the  produce  and  manufacture  of  every  land  and  clime  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  The  cotton  of  the  tropics,  the  silk,  and  the 
wool,  and  the  flax  of  the  temperate  regions,  and  the  furs  of  the 
arctic,  are  made  to  contribute  to  his  wants.  The  herd  of  the 
stall  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest,  supply  the  different 
kinds  of  leather  used  for  his  shoes  and  other  parts  of  his  dress. 
One  land  contributes  the  gems  and  precious  metals  which  enter 
into  the  manufacture  of  his  watch,  and  supply  other  ornamental 
portions  of  his  apparel.  One  would  be  surprised  at  the  full 
inventory  of  the  costume  of  a  well-dressed  man,  or  a  fashion- 
able woman's  entire  wardrobe  from,  hat  to  shoes.  What  a 
variety  of  articles ;  what  different  fabrics,  the  produce 
of  every  latitude,  the  workmanship  of  hundreds,  perhaps 
thousands  of  individuals,  and  of  almost  every  craft,  before 
they  become  articles  of  traffic  and  use ;  and  lands  and  seas 
were  traversed,  and  hardships  and  diverse  perils  encountered, 
before  these  various  articles  were  all  brought  together  and 
made  to  adorn  the  form  of  a  single  individual. 


286  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

But  man's  wants  in  respect  to  food  are  yet  more  constant 
and  extensive.  Few  and  simple  as  these  wants  are  in  a 
savage  state,  they  are  indefinitely  multiplied  in  his  civilized 
condition.  The  tenants  of  the  stall,  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and 
the  birds  of  the  air,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea,  are  constantly 
taxed  to  minister  to  the  palate  of  man.  -  And  when  they  have 
sent  forth  their  most  liberal  contributions,  they  have  supplied 
his  table  with  but  its  first  dish.  All  sorts  of  cereal  produc- 
tions, foreign  and  domestic,  enter  largely  into  his  bill  of  fare ; 
and  so  does  a  great  variety  of  vegetables,  fruits  and  spices  of 
every  name  and  nation.  Man  is  an  omnivorous  animal.  If 
he  do  not  eat  every  thing,  his  tastes  crave  and  his  wants  de- 
mand the  productions  of  every  soil  and  climate.  Every  island, 
continent  and  sea,  is  explored  to  collect  the  means  to  gratify 
man's  wants  for  food. 

But  man  must  have  an  habitation — a  comfortable,  good 
house — an  elegant,  commodious,  costly  house,  if  he  can  get 
such  a  one  ;  and,  from  attic  to  cellar,  it  must  be  magnificently 
furnished.  Go  into  such  a  mansion,  take  an  inventory  of 
every  article,  and  of  the  material  of  which  every  part  of  the  edi- 
fice, and  each  article  of  furniture  is  constructed,  and  the  land 
where  produced  or  made,  and  you  will  marvel  at  the  result 
of  your  observation.  Field,  forest,  mine,  quarry,  land  and  sea 
have  been  ransacked  to  supply  the  multitudinous  materials 
which  enter  into  the  structure  of  the  house  itself,  and  of  its 
furniture  and  ornaments.  Metals,  minerals,  precious  stones  ; 
woods  of  a  great  variety  of  kinds  and  from  diverse  countries ; 
glass,  stone,  brick,  lime,  cement,  and  a  great  variety  of  other 
substances,  are  combined  to  form  the  structure.  And  yet 
more  numerous  are  the  materials  out  of  which  are  made  the 


HOW   MANY   ABE   LABORING   FOE   US.  287 

articles  which  furnish  and  adorn  the  stately  mansion.  The 
workmanship,  too,  is  of  as  varied  a  character.  Thousands  of 
men  and  women,  of  every  nation  and  craft,  and  every  degree  of 
skill,  have  been  engaged  in  their  fabrication.  The  carpets  are 
the  contribution  of  one  country,  cabinet  furniture  of  another ; 
the  china,  plate,  cutlery,  glassware  and  a  nameless  variety  of 
fabrics  and  articles  of  use  and  ornament,  have  been  collected 
from  almost  as  many  different  localities  as  there  are  individual 
articles. 

"  While  we  are  sitting  in  our  comfortable  apartments  feast- 
ing on  the  beauties  of  Providence,  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  of  our  fellow-men,  in  different  regions  of  the  globe, 
are  assiduously  laboring  to  procure  for  us  supplies  for  some  future 
entertainment.  One  is  sowing  the  seed,  another  gathering  in 
the  fruits  of  harvest ;  one  is  providing  fuel,  and  another  furs 
and  flannels,  to  guard  us  from  the  winter's  cold ;  one  is  convey- 
ing home  the  luxuries  and  necessaries  of  life,  another  is  bringing 
intelligence  from  our  friends  in  distant  lands  ;  one  is  carrying 
grain  to  the  mill,  another  is  grinding  it,  and  another  is  con- 
veying it  along  to  our  habitations ;  one  is  in  search  of  me- 
dicines to  assuage  our  pains,  and  another  is  in  search  of  con- 
solation to  soothe  our  wounded  spirits.  In  the  midst  of  never- 
ceasing  exertions,  some  are  crossing  deep  and  dangerous  riv- 
ers ;  some  are  traversing  a  waste  howling  wilderness ;  some  are 
wandering  amidst  swampy  moors,  and  trackless  heaths  ;  some 
are  parched  with  thirst  on  sandy  deserts ;  some  are  shivering 
and  benumbed  amidst  the  blasts  of  winter ;  some  are  toiling 
along  steep  and  dangerous  roads,  and  others  are  tossing  in 
the  midst  of  the  ocean,  buffeted  by  the  winds  and  raging 
billows." 


288  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

How  endless  are  the  wants  of  man  in  only  these  three  partic- 
ulars: food,  clothing  and  habitation.  But  this  is  scarcely 
more  than  the  beginning  of  his  wants.  He  must  have  facil- 
ities to  prosecute  his  daily  labors — utensils  for  his  trade — 
tools  with  which  to  work,  and  a  thousand  appurtenances  for 
comfort,  convenience,  or  luxury  from  day  to  day.  For  the 
supply  of  all  these  wants,  too,  he  again  presents  himself  at  the 
door  of  nature's  exhaustless  store-house. 

Again,  man,  in  his  social  and  civil  relations,  is  destined  to 
live  in  a  world  of  disorder  and  violence.  He  needs  weapons 
of  defence.  He  must,  too,  move  from  place  to  place — he  must 
prosecute  commerce — traverse  sea  and  land  for  gain,  and  fulfil 
the  numerous  offices  of  friendship  and  affection.  The  proper 
discharge  of  all  such  duties  involves  a  new  and  numerous  array 
of  wants  to  be  supplied :  as  roads,  bridges,  canals,  railways — sail- 
yessels,  steamers,  and  vessels  and  vehicles  of  every  craft,  form 
and  size,  with  all  the  facilities  of  travel,  intercourse  and  trade. 
The  idea  implies,  too,  the  existence  and  constant  and  active 
operation  of  manufactories,  and  the  varied  skill  of  large  classes 
of  men. 

Man  wants  fuel  for  his  fire — oil  for  his  lamp — a  bed  and 
all  its  cozy  comforts  for  his  repose ;  and  the  thousand  appur- 
tenances of  a  well-furnished  homestead  for  his  necessities  or 
pleasure.  He  needs,  too,  for  his  use  and  comfort,  a  great 

variety  of  domestic  animals,  with  all  the  appliances  needful  to 

i 

subject  them  to  his  use.  God  did  not  make  man  and  put  him  in 
this  world  that  he  should  be  an  ascetic  or  a  recluse,  nor  that  he 
should  see  how  few  might  be  his  wants,  and  on  how  little  he  might 
subsist.  He  created  man  with  all  his  wants  inherent ;  and  as 
man  rises  to  a  higher  grade  of  life,  these  wants  are  proper- 


MAN   WANTS   A   VAST   DEAL   HERE.  289 

tionably  multiplied.  The  sentiment  of  the  poet,  often  approv- 
ingly quoted — and,  in  the  sense  intended  by  him,  true — is,  in  the 
view  we  are  here  taking  of  things,  far  enough  from  the  truth : 

"  Man  wants  but  little  here  below, 
Nor  wants  that  little  long." 

Man,  if  he  would  live  and  rise  and  fulfil  his  destiny  in  the 
world,  does  want  a  vast  deal  here  below.  His  wants  are  multi- 
tudinous. And  these  wants  have  their  foundation  in  the  very 
nature  of  the  man,  and  in  the  condition  in  which  God  has 
placed  him.  Man's  wants  are,  in  a  sense,  the  conditions  of  his 
progress — the  facilities  by  which  he  ascends  from  a  barbarous 
to  a  highly  civilized  state. 

Endless  as  are  man's  physical  wants,  God  has,  in  the 
plenitude  of  his  goodness  and  in  the  multiplicity  of  his  crea- 
tions, abundantly  met  the  demand.  He  has  correspondingly 
multiplied  and  varied  all  nature  so  as  to  meet  all  man's  legi- 
timate wants.  He  has  done  this,  partly  by  original  and  pro- 
vidential arrangements,  and  partly,  and  more  commonly,  by 

x1 

endowing  man  with  skill  and  industry — with  inventive  genius 
and  the  love  of  adventure  and  discovery — with  all  the  aspira- 
tions and  enterprise  needed  to  fulfil  his  high  destiny  on  earth. 
We  have  seen  in  the  foregoing  pages  how  abundantly 
varied  are  the  works  of  the  creative  hand.  Not  a  legitimate 
want  of  man  is  left  unprovided.  How  are  climates  and  soils 
varied — how  different  countries  broken  up  and  thrown  into 
hills  and  valleys,  mountains  and  deep  ravines,  into  plains  and 
deserts,  so  as  to  produce,  as  I  have  briefly  shown  in  a  pre- 
ceding chapter,  every  conceivable  variety  of  grain,  vege- 
tables and  fruit — so  as  to  give  grazing  grounds  to  every  kind 
13 


290         THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEEAT  KING. 

of  beast  and  fowl — high  hills  for  the  wild  goats,  dens  for  the 
young  lions,  holes  for  the  foxes,  and  rocks  for  the  conies.  And 
not  the  less  remarkable  is  it  that  the  same  hills  and  fields  con- 
tain all  sorts-  of  minerals  and  metals.  And  how  too  has  God 
endowed  his  creature  man  with  such  an  endless  diversity  of 
talents,  tastes,  skill,  aptitudes  and  proclivitiest,  that  he  leaves 
no  island,  sea  or  continent  unexplored,  where  he  may  search 
out  and  prepare  and  appropriate  to  his  use  or  comfort,  the 
multitudinous  things  which  God  has  provided  for  him. 

The  beneficence  of  God  in  this  respect  surpasses  all  won- 
der. Nor  is  the  only  wonder  that  God  has  made  so  varied  a 
provision  for  man's  wants,  but  that  this  provision  is  so  liberal 
and  profuse.  We  justly  marvel  at  the  extent  of  the  earth's 
productiveness — the  quantities  produced — the  profuse  supply 
which  the  soil,  the  forest,  the  mine,  the  quarry,  the  river,  and 
the  ocean  annually  yield.  And  as  man's  wants  from  year  to 
year  increase — a  civilization  opens  new  avenues  to  man's  in- 
dustry and  enterprise,  and  creates  new  necessities,  new  sub- 
stances are  discovered,  and  new  uses  of  old  substances.  God 
is  wont  to  hold  his  gifts  in  reserve  till  the  advanced  condition 
of  man  require  them.  How  remarkable  is  this  in  respect  to 
our  supply  of  fuel — the  use  of  steam  for  locomotion,  and  a 
great  variety  of  substances,  and  articles  of  food  and  apparel 
— of  convenience  and  luxury,  which  once  were  unknown,  but 
now  have  become  a  component  and  essential  part  of  human 
comfort  and  activity. 

But  man's  physical  wants,  though  the  most  common  and 
possibly  the  most  numerous,  are  but  his  lower  order  of  wants. 
His  intellectual  necessities  and  the  varied  modes  of  their  sup- 
ply, are  not  the  less  worthy  of  admiration. 


VARIOUS   TASTES   AND   MENTAL   APTITUDES.  291 

We  have  seen  how  diversified  is  the  human  intellect.  The 
talents,  and  mental  capacities  and  habits  are  so  different,  that 
no  two  minds  will  reason  alike,  and  bring  out  the  same  result 
even  on  the  same  theme.  The  consequence  of  this  is,  that 
every  science  finds  a  patron  ;  every  literary  pursuit  is  prose- 
cuted ;  every  feature  of  the  mind  is  developed.  And  the  mind, 
not  content  to  expatiate  on  fields  already  explored,  is  con- 
tinually seeking  to  explore  new  territory.  The  consequence 
of  these  restless  aspirations — this  characteristic  propenseness 
of  the  mind  to  trench  on  the  unknown — to  secure  something 
beyond  present  acquisitions,  is,  that  the  most  ample  provision 
is  made  to  meet  all  the  intellectual  wants  of  man.  Teachers  of 
every  art  and  science  are  thus  provided ;  books  of  every  sort, 
newspapers,  journals  and  periodicals,  of  every  name  and  nation. 
The  press  is  daily  sending  forth  tons  of  printed  matter,  which 
ministers  to  the  intellectual  wants  of  man.  And  so  varied 
and  prolific  are  these  sources  of  knowledge  that  not  a  mental 
want'of  man  need  go  ungratified.  All  the  varied  tastes  and 
mental  aptitudes  of  all  the  various  classes,  ranks  and  nations 
of  men,  find,  in  the  provision  Heaven  has  made  for  their  sup- 
ply, ample  resources.  As  God  has  in  the  natural  productive- 
ness of  the  earth  provided  most  bountifully  for  all  man's 
natural  wants,  and  not  for  his  necessities  only,  but  for  his  com- 
forts and  luxuries,  the  gratification  of  his  tastes,  for  his  love 
of  the  beautiful  and  his  taste  for  ornaments ;  in  like  manner 
God  has,  in  the  intellectual  world,  furnished  man  most  liber- 
ally with  all  possible  materials  of  thought,  and  with  all  sorts 
of  means  and  methods  of  acquiring  knowledge,  and  giving  ex- 
pansion and  depth  to  the  mind. 

Nor  has  the  Great  Giver  restricted  his  benefactions  merely 


292  THE   PAIACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

to  the  instructive  and  the  needful.  He  is  not  unmindful  of  the 
tastes  and  cravings  of  men  for  entertainment  and  recreation. 
God  deals  with  his  children  liberally.  He  would  have  them 
not  only  wise  and  holy  and  useful,  but  happy.  He  ministers 
to  all  their  innocent  wants ;  supplies  the  mind  not  only  with 
food  needful  to  its  growth  and  vigor,  but  with  luxuries  to 
gratify  its  tastes  and  to  regale  its  lawful  appetites.  The  mind 
is  provided  not  only  with  the  substantial  of  a  dinner,  but  with 
the  luxuries  of  a  dessert. 

But  here  the  great  Foe  to  all  useful  improvement  of  the 
mind  steps  in,  and  by  one  of  his  saddest  perversions,  almost 
monopolizes  this  demand  of  the  human  mind.  In  the  present 
gigantic  perversions  of  the  press,  we  detect  the  hand  of  the  great 
adversary,  pouring  into  these  great  fountains  of  mental  and 
moral  health,  which  ought  to  send  forth  the  living  waters  into 
every  part  of  the  great  desert,  the  poison  of  skepticism  and  in- 
fidelity, the  enchantment  of  fiction  and  the  mere  effervescence  of 
knowledge.  The  amount  of  this  literary  trash  and  intellectual 
putrescence  with  which  our  land  and  the  world  is  this  day 
flooded  is  enormous,  beyond  the  conception  of  almost  any  living 
man  ;  and  the  mischief,  much  of  it  yet  to  be  developed,  which 
it  is  inflicting  on  the  present  generation,  and  through  them  on 
generations  yet  unborn,  is  equally  beyond  the  conception  of 
the  wisest  mortal. 

The  entire  constitution  of  nature,  all  its  varied  forms  and 
types  of  life,  all  its  varied  beauties  and  utilities,  each  furnishes 
a  theme  of  thought  or  a  subject  of  intellectual  entertainment. 
The  field,  therefore,  over  which  the  mind  of  man  may  roam 
and  pluck  its  sweetest  flowers  and  garner  its  richest  harvests, 
is  as  boundless  as  the  material  universe,  and  as  varied  as  the 


MORAL  AND   RELIGIOUS   WANTS.  293 

unnumbered  creations  of  the  Divine  hand.  The  singular  ver- 
satility of  the  human  mind,  and  its  no  less  singular  capabilities 
of  entertaining  all  sorts  of  subjects,  is  but  a  beautiful  counter- 
part of  the  diversified  workmanship  of  God. 

But  man  has  another  and  a  yet  higher  class  of  wants, 
which  are  not  the  less  liberally  met  on  the  part  of  the  Author 
of  his  being.  They  are  his  moral  and  religious  wants.  Man 
has  yearnings  after  immortality ;  he  feels  an  aching  void, 
which  things  seen  and  temporal  can  never  fill.  He  has  re- 
ligious instincts,  which,  though  perhaps  indistinctly  developed, 
keep  him  apprised  of  his  descent  from  and  his  obligations  to  a 
higher  power,  and  ever  and  anon  lead  him  to  address  the  un- 
known God  as  his  Protector  and  Benefactor.  He  has  fears  to 
be  allayed  and  hopes  to  be  cherished.  And  in  a  more  ad- 
vanced and  enlightened  condition,  he  feels  that  he  has  an  an- 
gry God  to  appease,  sins  to  be  forgiven,  a  Saviour  to  secure, 
and  the  seamless  robe  of  righteousness  to  gain.  Henceforth  he 
must  struggle  to  divest  himself  of  the  filthy  rags  of  sin  and 
clothe  himself  in  every  grace  and  virtue  which  flourish  spon- 
taneously in  the  Paradise  above.  He  has  the  old  man  to  put 
off  and  the  new  man  to  put  on.  All  things  are  to  be  made 
new.  Man's  moral  wants  are  therefore  the  most  important 
and  imperative  of  all  his  wants. 

But  what  provision  has  been  made  to  meet  these  wants  ? 
We  have  already  seen  in  the  diversified  character  of  Divine 
truth,  a  u  word  fitly  spoken  "  to  every  individual  case.  Man 
is  brought  into  no  condition,  suffers  no  affliction,  is  subjected 
to  no  trial,  has  no  spiritual  want  or  conflict,  which  does  not 
meet  a  word  of  comfort  or  hope  in  the  Sacred  Volume.  Man 
must  have  faith  or  he  cannot  see  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven ;  he 


294         THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

must  have  a  guide  and  counsellor  in  his  spiritual  affairs ;  he 
must  know  what  he  ought  to  believe ;  he  must  have  doctrines 
propounded  and  precepts  inculcated  and  examples  for  imitation 
set  before  him,  and  motives  to  action  proposed.  He  must  have 
a  glorious  and  blessed  immortality  set  forth  as  the  great  con- 
summation to  be  sought,  and  a  miserable  eternity  as  the  doom 
to  be  avoided.  He  must  be  fervent  in  spirit,  patient  in  tribu- 
lation, a  co-worker  with  God,  ready  for  every  good  word  and 
work,  his  affections  set  on  things  above,  and  be  continually 
seeking  a  more  complete  conformity  to  God. 

To  meet  such  varied  and  multiplied  wants  he  resorts  to  the 
sacred  pages.  Here  he  finds  doctrines,  precepts,  promises, 
examples,  reproofs  and  instructions  exactly  suited  to  every 
want. 

And  not  only  so,  but  there  is  a  voice  in  the  volume  of 
nature  that  speaks  in  harmony  with  Eevelation  and  adapts  its 
monitions  and  teachings  to  all  the  wants  and  conditions  of 
man.  The  profuse  goodness  of  God  as  seen  diffused  through- 
out the  vast  material  creation — the  singularly  varied  supplies 
and  resources  provided  in  nature  for  man ;  and  the  whole  frame- 
work and  fitting  up  and  furnishing  the  Great  Palace  of  Nature, 
proclaim  alike  and  in  the  most  varied  accents  of  love,  lessons 
of  gratitude  and  obligation  to  God,  and  of  adoration  and 
praise.  The  power  of  God  as  displayed  in  the  vastness  of  crea- 
tion— in  a  control  over  such  mighty  masses  of  matter  as  make 
up  the  material  creation,  and  over  such  mighty  subordinate 
powers  as  the  earthquake,  the  volcano,  the  tempest,  the  ocean, 
the  electric  fluid  which  speaks  in  the  thunder,  and  executes 
the  Divine  behests  in  the  lightning,  in  the  skill  and  wisdom 
as  seen  in  the  endlessly  numerous  and  the  infinitely  minute 


NATUEE  A   SOUECE   OF   EELIGIOUS   INSTEUCTION.         295 

creation  of  tlie  wonderful  Author ;  and  tlie  goodness,  again,  as 
seen  in  the  harmonious  tendencies  in  all  these  works,  to  work 
out  the  great  purposes  of  the  Divine  benevolence,  and  there 
are  ten  thousand  adaptations  to  promote  the  happiness  of  man 
— to  propound  to  the  reflecting  mind  topics  of  the  most  ex- 
pansive thought,  and  of  the  profoundest  interest.  Exhaustless, 
indeed,  are  the  resources  with  which  nature  supplies  the  moral 
wants  of  man. 

To  the  devoutly  pious  mind  the  works  of  nature  are  a  rich 
source  of  religious  instruction.  He  heartily  responds  to  the  oft- 
repeated  effusions  of  the  pious  King  of  Israel.  The  power, 
wisdom  and  goodness  here  so  wonderfully  manifest,  are  sources 
of  the  most  instructive  meditation :  "0  Lord,  how  manifold  are 
thy  works  !  In  wisdom  hast  thou  made  them  all :  the  earth  is 
full  of  thy  riches."  "  Many,  0  Lord  my  God,  are  thy  won- 
derful works  that  thou  hast  done,  and  thy  thoughts  which  are 
to  us  ward :  if  I  would  declare  and  speak  of  them  they  are 
more  than  can  be  numbered."  "I  meditated  on  all  thy 
works ;  I  muse  on  the  work  of  thy  hand."  And  the  most 
wonderful  of  all  is  the  workmanship  of  the  human  body.  "  I 
will  praise  thee,"  says  David,  "for  I  am  fearfully  and  wonder- 
fully made :  marvellous  are  thy  works  !  How  precious  are  thy 
wonderful  contrivances  in  relation  to  me,  0  God !  How  great 
is  the  sum  of  them !  If  I  should  count  them  they  are  more  in 
number  than  the  sand." 

Nor  is  this  all.  Generously  as  Kevelation  and  Nature  sup- 
ply the  spiritual  wants  of  man — rich  and  boundless  as  are 
these  sources  of  instruction  and  comfort,  there  remains  another 
that  is  scarcely  less  so.  God  has  made  a  no  less  interesting 
or  less  ample  provision  for  the  spiritual  necessities  of  his 


296  THE  PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

people  in  the  singularly  diversified  dispensations  of  his  provi- 
dence. 

We  are  surprised  at  the  great  preponderance  of  propitious 
or  merciful  providences  over  those  which  seem  to  us  to  be  ad- 
verse and  afflictive.  Every  honest  heart  confesses  that  good- 
ness and  mercy  have  followed  him  all  the  days  of  his  life. 
Prosperity,  health,  plenty,  is  the  rule  of  Providence.  Afflic- 
tions, destitutions,  disease,  judgments  are  the  exceptions.  Our 
mercies  are  constant;  our  privations,  losses  and  sufferings, 
casual.  We  are  not  left  a  moment  without  some  kind  token 
of  our  Father's  love  and  protecting  care.  Even  when  we  are 
smarting  under  his  fatherly  chastisements,  and  suffering  the 
most  severely,  we  may  be  suffering  the  privation  of  only  one 
out  of  a  thousand  of  our  blessings.  Our  song  is  still  of  mercy 
and  not  of  judgment.  Our  brief  period  of  probation  is  especial- 
ly a  dispensation  of  mercy.  God  seems  to  have  so  diversified 
his  providences  as  to  bring  out  his  mercy  and  benevolence  to  his 
creatures  in  every  possible  form.  We  are  encircled  in  the 
arms  of  his  mercies ;  the  banner  over  us  is  his  unceasing  love. 

How  singularly  rich,  then,  are  God's  providences  in  admo- 
nition, reproof,  correction  and  instruction  in  righteousness. 
They  do  not  more  bountifully  administer  to  man's  physical 
wants  than  they  do  to  his  moral  and  religious  wants.  "  His 
goodness  leadeth  thee  to  repentance."  This  ever-diversified 
and  never-ceasing  providential  goodness  is  fitted  to,  and,  where 
not  wickedly  resisted,  does  bring  men  to  a  cordial  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  Father  of  spirits,  and  into  humble  allegiance 
to  the  Great  King.  Providence  is  the  third  if  not  the  second 
great  Teacher  of  man.  Providence  has  a  thousand  tongues  : 
speaks  peace  to  the  troubled  spirit,  comfort  to  the  afflicted,  hope 


ADVEESE  PBOVIDENCES.  297 

to  the  despairing,  plenty  to  those  who  want,  health  to  the  sick, 
and  to  the  guilty,  intimates  a  pardon.  No  one  that  reverently 
heeds  the  voice  of  Providence,  is  likely  to  be  left  to  any  very 
serious  departures  from  God. 

But  it  is  not  merciful  providences  alone  that  teach  the  great 
lessons  intimated.  Providential  dealings  severe  as  death,  and 
dark  as  the  grave,  may  come  laden  with  mercy,  and,  in  the 
end,  work  out  a  joyous  result.  Their  lessons  are  oftentimes 
more  salutary,  and  the  impressions  they  make  more  lasting 
than  the  providences  which  come  gilded  with  the  golden  tints 
of  mercy.  "  Thou  art  a  God  that  hidest  thyself."  Some  of  the 
darkest  providences  are  the  channels  through  which  flow  into 
the  soul  some  of  Heaven's  richest  blessings.  God  sits  as  the 
refiner  of  silver,  and  though  he  may  suffer  the  heat  of  the  fur- 
nace to  rise  to  its  greatest  intensity,  he  will,  on  that  very  ac- 
count, bring  out  the  silver  more  perfectly  refined. 

Adverse  providences  are  not  the  less  our  schoolmasters  to 
chasten  our  spirits,  to  humble  our  ambition,  to  rebuke  our 
pride  and  selfishness ;  to  moderate  our  desires  for  this  world, 
and  compel  us  to  go  out  from  ourselves  and  seek  after  the  great 
realities  of  the  eternal  world,  and  the  favor  and  friendship  of 
the  great  God — to  choose  him  for  our  portion,  to  yield  up  our 
spirits,  for  time  and  eternity,  in  humble  obedience  to  his  will. 
13* 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

MAN  designed  and  adapted  to  a  high  State  of  Civilization  in  this  Life,  and  a  high  State 
of  Exaltation  and  Glory  in  the  Life  to  come:  or,  THE  MODEL  MAN. 

ALL  the  Divine  arrangements  in  Nature,  and  all  varied  provisions 
of  Providence  indicate  that  man  is  designed  for  a  high  state  of 
civilization  and  improvement.  This  is  a  legitimate  inference 
from  what  has  already  been  said  in  preceding  chapters.  His 
multiplied  physical  wants,  his  enlarged  mental  powers  and  ca- 
pacities— his  singular  versatility  of  genius — his  as  yet  un- 
known capacities  of  mind,  and  capabilities  of  improvement — 
his  native  aspirations,  always  reaching  after  something  beyond 
what  he  has — his  gregarious  propensities  and  habits,  and  his 
social  qualities  and  disposition  to  aid  and  be  aided  by  his  fel- 
low-man, indicate  such  a  destiny.  And,  more  than  all,  those 
unsatisfied  desires  and  infinite  aspirations  which  belong  to  his 
immortal  being,  and  meet  their  fulness  only  beyond  the  skies, 
point  out  man  as  capacitated  to  occupy  a  rank  among  the 
creatures  of  God,  and  to  do  a  work  in  some  future  sphere  of 
activity,  which  is  as  yet  but  very  partially  developed. 

What  we  have  called  man's  gregarious  propensities  and 
habits,  have  a  more  important  bearing  on  his  social  progress 
and  general  improvement  than  may  at  first  be  supposed.  It  is 
these  "social  desires  and  feelings  which  produce  cities  and 


WHAT   MAKES   CITIES,    STATES   AKD   LAWS.  299 

states,  laws  and  institutions,  arts  and  civilization."  Man,  as 
an  isolated  being — as  divorced  from  all  the  influences  of 
social  intercourse  and  the  mutual  aid  of  his  fellows,  is  scarcely 
above  the  brute.  His  food  is  of  the  simplest  and  coarsest  kind ; 
his  clothing  of  the  rudest  sort;  his  habitation  a  den  in  the 
earth,  or  a  structure  such  as  his  own  unskilled  hands  could 
erect  from  the  scantiest  materials  of  the  rudest  sort.  Com- 
merce would  be  unknown,  and  no  public  enterprise  could  be 
prosecuted.  Nearly  all  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  life, 
and  all  the  improvements  in  society  are  the  results  of  man's  com- 
bined efforts  and  skill.  It  is  only  when  enterprise  and  labor, 
numbers  and  capital  are  made  to  concentrate  in  cities ;  and 
States  are  organized,  governments  formed  and  sustained,  and 
wise  and  humane  laws  are  enacted,  and  useful  institutions  are 
maintained,  that  man  advances  from  a  savage  to  a  civilized 
condition.  And  his  advancement  is  in  proportion  as  the 
wealth,  and  influence,  and  concentrated  numbers  of  cities  are 
employed  to  promote  the  highest  interest  of  man ;  and  as  the 
State  is  pure,  and  the  laws  and  institutions  of  the  nation  are 
just  and  humane,  and  well  sustained. 

Would  we  calculate  the  position  which  man  is  fitted  to  oc- 
cupy in  the  scale  of  human  advancement,  we  must  be  able  to 
•estimate,  first,  all  the  personal  capabilities,  both  of  body  and 
mind,  which  he  may  bring  to  bear  on  the  advancement  of  his 
condition  when  he  shall  be  in  a  position  to  use  them  without 
let  or  hindrance ;  and,  then,  all  the  resources  and  facilities 
which  external  nature  affords  him,  when  these  resources  and 
facilities  shall  no  longer  be  perverted,  and  employed,  as  they 
too  often  are,  to  hinder  his  progress. 

The  apostasy  has  laid  man  low.     Sin  has  degraded  him — 


300  THE  PALACE   OF  THE  GEEAT  KING. 

weakened  and  perverted  the  powers  of  his  mind,  and  corrupted 
the  affections  of  his  heart.  It  has  vilely  arrested  his  noble  as- 
pirings heavenward,  and  plunged  him  into  the  abyss  of  moral 
turpitude.  And  so  debasing,  corrupting  and  belittling  has 
been  the  influence  of  sin  on  the  character  and  condition  of  man, 
that  we  now  scarcely  recognize  him  as  that  noble,  high  and 
holy  being  which  God  created.  We  can,  therefore,  now  do  lit- 
tle more  than  infer  what  the  primeval  state  of  man  was,  and 
what  his  restored  state  shall  be,  from  the  present  longings  of 
the  human  soul  for  a  better  portion,  from  the  wants  it  feels, 
and  from  the  superabounding  supplies  which  Providence  has 
provided  to  meet  all  man's  desires  and  necessities.  From 
these  things  we  may  get  some  correct  idea  of  what  man  shall 
yet  be. 

Every  generation  of  men  has  had  in  hope  and  prospect,  a 
golden  age,  when  man  shall  realize,  in  a  much  higher,  happier 
and  holier  state  than  he  yet  has,  all  that  prophets  have  fore- 
told, all  that  God  has  promised,  and  all  that  the  expensive  and 
profuse  provisions  for  man's  progress  which  Providence  has  sup- 
plied to  his  hand.  The  pleasing  hopes  which  angels  enter- 
tained of  man  at  his  creation,  and  when  in  Eden  they  held  fre- 
quent and  sweet  converse  with  him,  shall  be  realized.  Made 
but  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  he  shall  yet  arise  from  the 
dust  of  his  debasement  and  reassume  his  seat  among  the  high 
and  holy  inhabitants — the  principalities  and  powers  of  the 
heavenly  state. 

The  theme  illustrated  in  the  present  volume  throws  some 
light  on  the  inquiry,  What  shall  be  the  character  and  condi- 
tion of  man  when  he  shall  attain  to  that  higher  destiny  which 


MAN  IN   HIS   HIGHER  DESTINY.  301 

awaits  him  in  time — and  also,  what  man  shall  be  in  his  bliss- 
ful condition  in  eternity. 

Kecall  what  has  been  said  of  the  provisions  which  have 
been  made  in  nature  for  man's  physical  comfort  and  advance- 
ment, and  you  see  at  once  how  all  the  wants  of  a  high  state 
of  civilization  are  bountifully  met.  The  earth,  in  all  its  varied 
soils,  latitudes  and  climates,  is  made  to  bring  forth  supplies  for 
his  food  and  clothing ;  and  not  simply  to  supply  his  table  with 
the  bare  necessities  of  life,  and  just  apparel  enough  to  meet 
the  demands  of  absolute  want,  but  with  a  profuseness  and  vari- 
ety which  indicate  that  God  will  not  only  vastly  increase  the 
number  of  his  earthly  family,  but  that  he  will  spread  for  them 
a  bounteous  table,  and  clothe  them  in  purple  and  fine  linen. 
We  cast  the  eye  over  the  immense  coal  fields  which  yet  remain 
undisturbed  by  man,  and  over  the  exhaustless  beds  of  iron,  lead, 
tin,  stone,  lime  and  all  the  useful  minerals  and  metals,  and 
we  get  the  most  substantial  evidence  of  man's  future  progress. 
For  we  here  see,  in  the  greatest  profusion,  the  resources  of  pro- 
gress. Judging  from  the  supplies  provided  to  meet  his  per- 
sonal wants  and  to  furnish  facilities  to  every  trade,  craft  and 
avocation  in  life,  we  can  fix  no  limit  beyond  which  man  may 
not  advance. 

Again,  man,  in  his  highly  civilized  condition,  must  prose- 
cute an  extensive  commerce,  and  enjoy  extensive  facilities  for 
travel  and  the  communication  of  intelligence.  He  now  demands, 
almost  for  his  daily  supply,  the  products  of  every  nation,  and 
he  must  be  able  to  converse  with  the  antipodes  without  the  in- 
tervention of  months,  days,  or  even  hours.  We  can  see  no  end 
to  the  resources  held  in  reserve  (and  partly  developed)  to  sus- 
tain such  a  commerce  and  international  communication.  As- 


302  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   GREAT  KING. 

tonished  as  we  are  at  a  comparison  of  the  present  commerce  of 
the  world  with  that  of  fifty  ~years  ag°>  we  see,  in  the  exhaust- 
less  products  of  the  soil,  the  mine  and  the  quarry ;  of  the  artist, 
the  mechanic,  and  of  the  numerous  handicrafts  of  the  age — we 
see  in  the  progress  already  made  in  the  art  and  practice  of 
navigation,  and  in  the  increased  facilities  for  prosecuting  it, 
unmistakable  indications  of  a  greatly  extended  commerce. 

But  a  free  and  boundless  commerce  not  only  belongs  to  a 
highly  civilized  state,  and  is  an  essential  part  of  it,  but  it  is  it- 
self the  "  great  civilizer."  Commerce  and  civilization  are  cor- 
relative terms.  As  the  standard  of  the  one  rises  in  a  nation, 
the  amount  of  the  other  increases,  and  in  proportion  as  it  in 
creases  we  may  calculate  that  civilization  is  advancing.  And 
not  only  so,  but  in  proportion  as  the  great  staples  of  commerce 
are  found  to  abound  in  the  capabilities  of  the  soil,  and  in  the 
abundance  of  the  varied  articles  of  exchange  and  traffic  which 
are  found  hid  under  the  surface  of  the  earth — on  land  or  in  the 
sea ;  and  as  we  see  man's  wants  continually  multiplying,  and 
his  industry  and  skill  more  assiduously  and  scientifically  em- 
ployed, we  have  the  surest  vouchers,  not  only  for  an  extensive 
commerce,  but  for  its  concomitant,  the  advanced  condition  of 
man. 

Such  a  condition  implies  a  vast  abundance  and  variety  of 
all  sorts  of  commodities — of  an  increased  variety  of  articles  for 
food  and  clothing — materials  for  erecting  and  furnishing  houses 
— for  manufactories — for  mercantile  and  mechanical  establish- 
ments— for  naval  and  merchant  fleets — for  telegraphs,  roads 
and  bridges — and  for  the  thousand  and  one  facilities  for  traffic 
and  the  easy  and  frequent  intercourse  with  all  people.  And  as 
nature  makes  no  vain  preparations,  we  may  be  confident  that 


THE  THREE  FEATURES  OF  NATURE.          303 

the  future  condition  of  man  shall  be  such  as  is  indicated  by  all 
these  natural  resources,  when  man  shall,  on  his  part,  by  a 
corresponding  mental  improvement,  be  able  to  appropriate 
these  resources. 

Nor  is  there  wanting  in  nature  resources  too  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  taste  and  of  that  chastened  sense  of  the  beautiful  and 
.sublime,  which  shall  grace  man  in  his  higher  state  of  advance- 
ment. Is  a  man's  character  and  tastes  formed  by  the  circum- 
stances in  which  he  is  placed,  by  the  company  he  keeps,  and 
the  objects  which  he  the  most  frequently  and  familiarly  con- 
templates ?  we  should,  then,  judge  most  favorably,  what,  in 
these  respects,  man  may  become.  The  beauty  which  over- 
spreads the  face  of  nature  engenders  in  the  mind  a  love  of  the 
beautiful. 

The  open  volume  of  nature  here  presents  three  features 
(to  name  no  more)  which  go  in  a  special  manner  to  refine  and 
elevate  the  taste  and  to  ennoble  the  whole  man.  There  is, 
first,  the  exquisite  delicacy  and  beauty  of  workmanship. 
Nothing  comes  from  the  Divine  hand  that  is  crude,  uncouth, 
or  unfinished ;  nothing  that  indicates  misjudgment,  mistake, 
or  want  of  design ;  nothing  imperfect.  The  more  minutely 
you  examine  the  productions  of  nature,  the  more  you  discover 
of  their  exquisite  skill  and  beauty,  of  their  fitness  and  utility. 
Nothing  can  therefore  conduce  more  directly  to  cultivate  in 
man  a  chastened  taste,  to  refine  his  mind  and  keep  his  heart 
pure,  than  the  careful  and  reverent  study  of  the  book  of  nature. 
In  this  wonderful  volume  are  spread  before  him  unlimited 
means  (without  money  and  without  price)  of  the  highest  men- 
tal refinement  and  moral  purity.  All  nature,  in  this  respect, 
bespeaks  the  noble  character  and  the  elevated  condition  of 


304  THE  PALACE   OP  THE   GEEAT  KING. 

man  when  he  shall  have  appropriated  the  resources  thus  put  at 
his  command. 

Other  features  of  the  Creator's  works,  which  not  the  less 
betoken  the  future  high  mental  condition  of  man,  are  their 
sublimity  and  magnificence — the  exercise  in  them  of  infinite 
power,  and  the  inconceivably  vast  quantity  of  the  material 
creation.  These  are  themes  which  man  cannot  frequently  and 
seriously  contemplate  without  having  his  whole  being  expanded 
and  brought  to  a  higher  moral  level.  In  such  contemplations, 
in  such  a  looking  up  through  nature  to  nature's  God,  he  finds 
the  native  aspirations  of  his  soul  ascending  and  reaching  after 
the  infinitude  of  the  Eternal  Mind.  And  there  is,  too,  pervad- 
ing all  God's  works,  and  equally  ennobling  to  the  human  soul, 
a  delightful  display  of  the  Divine  benignity.  The  great  end 
of  God's  works  is  man  and  what  he  is  to  accomplish  through 
man.  Deliverance  from  sin,  redemption  through  Christ,  is  the 
great  end  of  creation  and  providence.  As  men  shall  in  coming 
time  study  the  works  and  ways  of  God  more  profoundly  and 
devoutly ;  as  they  shall  see  them,  the  minutest  as  well  as  the 
most  magnificent,  pervaded  by  a  spirit  of  infinite  benevolence 
and  love,  all  culminating  at  the  one  great  point, — the  glory  of 
God  in  the  salvation  of  man,  an  outgushing  of  goodness  in 
every  thing — they  will  become  wiser,  their  minds  will  be  en- 
nobled, and  their  hearts  made  better.  And  the  more  man  thus 
sees  of  God  the  more  will  he  be  transformed  into  his  image. 
Eden  shall  return  to  earth,  and  man,  made  again  the  fit  com- 
panion of  angels,  shall  resume  his  station  as  but  a  "little 
lower  "  than  they. 

But  man  need  not  go  beyond  himself  to  get  a  most  con- 
vincing evidence  that  he  is,  both  in  his  temporal  and  eternal 


THE  MECHANISM  OF  THE  BODY.  305 

life,  formed  and  fitted  out  for  a  high  destiny.  His  own  me- 
chanism— how  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made  !  the  framework 
of  his  body,  its  ten  thousand  organs,  uses  and  adaptations,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  existence  of  the  yet  more  wondrous  nature 
and  endowments  of  the  mental  and  the  immortal  part,  supplies 
ample  proof  of  the  high  destiny  that  awaits  man.  "  The  parts 
of  which  the  body  is  composed,  their  number,  their  various 
natures,  dependencies,  operations  and  uses ;  the  arrangements 
by  which  they  are  formed  into  a  system,  a  world  within  itself; 
the  faculties  attached  to  it,  of  seeing,  hearing,  smelling,  tast- 
ing and  feeling ;  its  capacity  of  pain  and  pleasure ;  the 
warning  which  it  is  fitted  to  give  of  approaching  or  commenc- 
ing evil ;  and  the  power  which  it  so  variously  possesses  of  self- 
restoration;  are  all  wonderful,  mysterious,  and  strongly  de- 
claratory of  the  skill  and  goodness  of  the  Creator."  Nor  may 
we  overlook  the  peculiar  structure  of  the  person,  which  gives 
man  the  pre-eminence  over  every  other  animal ;  "  the  beauty  of 
the  complexion ;  the  symmetry  of  the  members,  particularly 
that  displayed  in  the  features  of  the  face ;  the  gracefulness  and 
dignity  of  the  motions ;  nor  the  power  of  the  countenance  to 
express  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  mind."  The  face 
thus  becomes,  an  "  index  to  the  character  of  the  invisible  man, 
and  shows  not  only  his  ideas,  but  his  emotions  also ;  his  virtue 
and  vice,  his  loveliness  and  deformity ;  and,  in  a  word,  what- 
ever his  fellow-men  are  interested  to  know."  * 

I  have  alluded  to  the  extraordinary  capabilities  of  the  soil 
to  produce  a  superabundance  of  supplies  for  the  wants  of  man, 
even  his  vastly  increased  wants  in  his  highly  civilized  state  ; 
and  have  used  this  as  an  argument  that  man  is  destined  to 

*  D wight's  Theology.    Vol.  L,  pp.  344,  345. 


306          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

such  a  state.  In  connection  with  this  is  another  fact  of  kin- 
dred interest.  It  is,  that,  notwithstanding  the  "  curse  " — the 
"thorns  and  thistles,"  scorching  winds  and  desolating  tem- 
pests, rocks,  deserts,  and  barren  mountain-tops  ;  notwithstand- 
ing all  the  reasons  why,  "in  the  sweat  of  his  face"  man 
should  secure  his  bread,  yet  such  is  still  the  productiveness  of 
the  earth,  that  only  a  minor  portion  of  the  human  family  is 
required  to  make  it  yield  its  supplies  in  sufficient  abundance 
to  meet  all  the  wants  of  this  great  family.  The  great  majority 
are  therefore  relieved  from  the  rugged  labors  of  the  field,  to 
supply  the  workshop,  to  prosecute  commerce,  to  man  our  mer- 
chant and  naval  fleets,  to  keep  in  motion  the  wheels  of  our 
manufactories ;  to  pursue  the  arts  and  sciences  and  every 
branch  of  useful  learning;  to  man  the  press  with  printers, 
publishers,  writers  and  distributers;  to  supply  men  for  the 
pulpit,  the  bar  and  the  healing  art ;  for  the  teacher's  desk,  the 
professor's  chair,  and  the  legislative  hall.  So  readily  and 
lavishly  does  the  earth  yield  her  fruits  that  we  lack  not  men 
for  merchants,  miners,  machinists  and  manufacturers  of  every 
name ;  for  every  trade,  profession  and  pursuit  which  can  pos- 
sibly favor  the  future  progress  of  man.  In  this  we  especially 
discern  the  good  hand  of  the  Lord. 

Were  it  otherwise ;  were  the  earth  so  rugged,  so  sterile 
and  hard  to  be  cultivated  ;  her  surface,  climate  and  soil  such 
as  to  require  the  full  labor  of  every  man  to  secure  from  his 
fields  the  support  of  his  own  family,  the  race  could  never  have 
advanced  beyond  a  low  state  of  barbarism.  The  arts  and 
sciences,  mechanical  crafts  and  education,  would  never  have 
been  pursued.  There  would  be  neither  merchants,  sailors,  nor 
miners ;  neither  authors,  editors,  printers,  nor  distributers  of 


THE  CURSE   REMOVED  FROM  THE  EAETH.  307 

4 

books  ;  neither  preachers,  statesmen  nor  teachers ;  neither  in 
ventors,  discoverers  nor  explorers  of  unknown  seas  and  lands. 
The  whole  energies  of  the  race  would  necessarily  be  absorbed 
in  delving  the  earth,  and  forcing  her  to  yield  her  scanty  sup- 
plies, simply  to  feed  a  miserable  race,  and  to  clothe  them  in 
the  rudest  apparel.  "  What  shall  we  eat,  and  wherewithal  be 
clothed,"  would  then  indeed  be  the  great  concern  of  man. 

And  another  thought  occurs  in  this  connection :  as  science 
shall  be  more  and  more  applied  to  agriculture  ;  as  inventions 
and  discoveries  put  into  the  hands  of  the  cultivator  new  facil- 
ities, in  the  shape  of  labor-saving  machines,  and  more  espe- 
cially, when  the  moral  condition  of  man  becomes  such  that 
God  shall  remove  the  curse  from  the  earth,  a  yet  smaller  pro- 
portion of  men  will  be  required  as  producers  either  of  food  or 
apparel ;  and  consequently  a  still  larger  proportion  will  be 
exempted  from  agricultural  labor,  to  fill  all  those  varied  de- 
partments of  human  activity  without  which  no  people  can 
reach  a  high  state  of  civilization. 

But  we  may  not  stop  here.  The  world  of  mind  yet  more 
distinctly  bespeaks  the  high  future  destiny  of  man. 

A  similar  line  of  remark  may  be  pursued  first,  on  the  sin- 
gular mental  furniture  of  man ;  and,  then,  on  the  wonderful 
adaptedness  of  external  nature  to  develop  his  mental  re- 
sources, and  to  give  expansion  to  his  mental  faculties ;  and 
the  adaptedness  yet  more  direct  of  Divine  truth  and  divine 
grace,  to  elevate  and  expand  the  whole  inner  man. 

A  superficial  view  of  the  intellectual  man  does  not  give  us 
the  most  favorable  idea  of  his  superiority.  We  see  the  mass 
of  the  race,  strangely  ignorant  and  besotted — talent  sadly 
misapplied,  and  intellectual  influence  employed  to  corrupt,  de- 


308          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

base,  or  oppress  others.  This  is  a  partial  view.  Looking  on 
man  as  he  now  is,  we  see  vastly  more  to  pity  and  blame,  than 
to  admire.  He  is  like  a  noble  eagle  hit  by  a  fatal  arrow — 
maimed — with  broken  wings  laid  prostrate  in  the  dust,  strug- 
gling in  vain  to  rise.  With  all  the  organs  and  energies 
needed  to  soar  above  the  clouds,  how  does  he  belie  his  noble 
nature  by  grovelling  in  the  dust.  In  his  apostatized  state 
man  is  seen  only  as  a  perversion  of  a  noble,  godlike  nature. 
Wherever  you  are  able  to  trace  back  the  "  degenerate  plant" 
to  its  pure  original,  you  find  in  each  case  an  attribute  of  man 
that  may  justly  claim  a  celestial  birth.  But  man  shall  not 
always  struggle  in  the  dust.  He  shall  rise.  Nature,  revela- 
tion, grace,  all  proclaim  the  noble  origin  of  man,  and  his  yet 
nobler  destiny. 

Circumscribed  as  may  be  our  acquaintance  with  the  actual 
capacities  and  capabilities  of  the  human  intellect,  we  know 
enough  to  justify  the  assertion  that  they  are  such  as  betoken 
the  future  greatness  of  the  man ;  and  such,  too,  as  shall  con- 
tribute most  effectively  to  raise  man  to  the  exalted  position 
which  awaits  him.  There  is  in  man  a  "  restless  ambition ; 
an  interminable  longing  after  nobler  and  higher  things,  which 
nought  but  immortality  and  the  greatness  of  immortality,  can 
satiate ;  a  dissatisfaction  with  the  present,  which  never  is 
appeased  by  all  the  world  has  to  offer;  an  impatience  and 
distaste  with  the  littleness  of  all  he  finds,  and  an  unsated  ap- 
petency for  something  larger  and  better,  which  he  fancies  in 
the  prospective."  Unlike  any  of  the  inferior  animals,  the 
human  desires  outstrip  any  possible  present  gratification.  A 
little  does  but  stimulate  his  desires  for  more ;  and  much, 
but  for  much  more.  "  From  the  vastness  of  his  propensities 


NO   LIMIT   TO   THE   HUMAN   MIND.  309 

and  the  vastness  of  his  powers,  he  feels  himself  straitened 
and  beset  in  a  field  too  narrow  for  him.  He  alone  labors 
under  the  discomfort  of  an  incongruity  between  his  circum- 
stances and  his  powers ;  and  unless  there  be  new  circum- 
stances awaiting  him  in  a  more  advanced  state  of  being,  he, 
the  noblest  of  nature's  products  here  below,  would  turn  out  to 
be  the  greatest  of  her  failures." 

There  is  no  intimation  of  any  limit  to  the  human  mind. 
Its  capabilities  seem  to  enlarge  in  proportion  to  its  acquisitions 
and  progress.  The  more  a  man  knows,  the  greater  are  his 
desires  for  knowledge  and  his  facilities  for  obtaining  it,  and 
the  greater  his  mental  capacities.  The  most  extravagant 
theory  of  man's  future  greatness  is  not  absurd  or  unwar- 
ranted. 

Man  is  constituted  the  sovereign  of  this  lower  world.  The 
animal,  vegetable  and  mineral  kingdoms  are  made  to  subserve 
his  use.  And,  what  is  of  special  importance  in  the  case,  there 
is  inherent  in  man,  the  skill,  the  ingenuity,  the  power — 
chiefly  mental — by  which  to  control  the  whole,  and  to  appro- 
priate all  to  his  necessities  and  pleasure.  The  whole  material 
creation,  with  all  its  exuberantly  diversified  beauties,  utilities 
and  adaptations — with  its  endlessly  rich  productions,  whether 
in  the  animate  or  inanimate  world — was  made  and  is  preserv- 
ed for  MAN.  Without  man,  the  world,  with  all  its  wonderful 
appurtenances,  is  a  gorgeous  palace  fitted  up  in  all  the  richness 
and  beauty  which  wisdom  and  skill  could  devise,  and  yet  without 
an  occupant. 

We  judge  of  the  rank  and  importance  of  the  occupant  by 
the  provisions  which  one  who  knows  him  well,  makes  for  his 
accommodation.  What  then  are  we  to  judge  of  man  ?  For 


310  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

him  "  all  nature  smiles  in  beauty  and  wantons  in  bounteous- 
ness."  What  supplies  of  all  his  wants — what  riches  does  the 
earth  hold  in  store  for  him — what  variety  and  abundance  does 
he  enjoy  now — and  what  exhaustless  resources  are  in  reserve 
to  favor  any  conceivable  degree  of  progress  in  time  to  come. 

"  He,  for  whose  sake  all  nature  stands, 
And  stars  their  courses  move," 

holds  a  rank — when  not  thrown  into  the  false  position  in 
which  sin  has  involved  him — scarcely  inferior  to  the  princi- 
palities and  powers  of  the  heavenly  state.  Instead  of  the  in- 
significance which  should  lead  the  shortsighted  observer  to  ex- 
claim, "  What  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him  I "  the 
ready  response  would  be :  "  Thou  hast  made  him  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels  ;  and  hast  crowned  him  with  glory  and  honor ; 
thou  hast  made  him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works  of  thine 
hands  ;  thou  hast  put  all  things  under  his  feet." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  SAME  SUBJECT  :  examples  of  extraordinary  development  among  men,  as  pledges 
of  his  high  future  destiny — Nature,  Providence  and  Eevelation  indicate  this 
same  high  destiny — Man  capacitated  to  appropriate  the  provisions  made  for  hia 
progress. 

THUS  far  we  have  prosecuted  the  subject  of  man's  prospects  of 
a  higher  grade  of  existence  in  this  life,  as  well  as  in  the  life 
to  come,  scarcely  more  than  as  a  matter  of  theory.  "We  have 
seen  in  man  subjectively  that  which  indicates  such  a  progress ; 
and  we  have  discovered  objectively  in  all  the  resources  put  at 
his  command,  and  all  the  facilities  afforded  him  for  progress, 
that  the  same  pleasing  destiny  probably  awaits  him. 

It  is  now  time  that  we  direct  our  inquiries  to  man  as  we  find 
him,  and  see  if,  under  any  circumstances,  individuals  of  the 
race,  at  least,  do  afford  us  any  specimens,  such  as  to  justify  the 
expectations  we  have  indulged.  When  we  descant  on  that 
extraordinary  productiveness  of  the  earth  which  we  expect  shall 
bless  man  in  the  days  of  the  earth's  millennium,  we  are  able  to 
point  to  certain  occasional  examples  of  extraordinary  growth 
and  productiveness,  as  tokens  and  pledges  of  what  shall  be, 
when,  relieved  from  the  curse,  the  earth  shall  bring  forth  to 
supply  the  wants  of  a  vastly  increased  number  of  living  beings. 
And  have  we  not  tokens,  in  some  good  degree  corresponding, 
of  what  man  shall  be  when  physically,  mentally  and  morally 


312          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT 

emancipated,  and  allowed  the  free  development  and  expan- 
sion of  his  powers  f 

We  are  not  without  occasional  examples  of  that  high  type 
of  manhood  of  which  I  have  spoken.  In  the  condition  of 
ignorance  and  moral  degeneracy  in  which  man  has  hitherto 
existed,  we  have  seen  him,  for  the  most  part,  in  a  depressed, 
unnatural  state — like  the  maimed  eagle  wallowing  in  the  dust. 
Yet,  in  almost  every  age,  a  few  have  risen  on  their  native 
wings,  and  soared  aloft  in  something  like  the  native  dignity 
which  belongs  to  a  race  formed  in  the  image  of  God.  These 
are  specimens,  kindly  vouchsafed  to  a  prostrate  race,  to  cheer 
them  onward  and  upward  to  the  station  prepared  for  them  next 
to  angels.  These  rare  specimens  are  ever  and  anon  made  to 
emerge  from  the  dark  abyss  of  fallen  humanity,  for  the  double 
purpose  of  exhibiting  the  real  capabilities  of  man  and  giving  a 
living  illustration  of  what,  if  he  carry  out  his  noble  destiny,  he 
shall  be ;  and  of  serving  in  certain  exigences  of  human  affairs, 
to  fulfil  the  great  purposes  of  the  Master. 

Here  we  might  instance  such  men  as  Moses,  Solomon — 
Martin  Luther,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  and  our  immortal  Washing- 
ton. Whether  as  statesmen,  soldiers  or  jurists ;  or  as  men  of 
giant  intellect  and  mental  cultivation ;  or  as  wise,  sagacious, 
far-seeing,  and  exercising  a  great  control  over  other  minds, 
they  seemed  not  to  belong  to  the  same  race  with  ordinary 
mortals.  In  them  there  was  a  native  nobility  and  greatness, 
beautifully  showing  forth  what  man,  when  present  obstructions 
shall  be  removed,  shall  become.  But  these  men  all  felt  a  hum- 
ble consciousness  that  they  had  but  just  begun  their  growth  into 
a  perfect  manhood — that  they  had  scarcely  passed  the  threshold 


EXTRAORDINARY   HUMAN   DEVELOPMENT.  313 

of  that  mental  expansion  and  moral  elevation  of  which  man, 
even  in  this  life,  is  capable. 

Or  we  may  refer  to  great  philanthropists,  as  Wilberforce, 
Howard,  Clarkson ;  or  to  men  of  expansive  benevolence  and 
of  great  endurance  and  self-denial  for  their  country,  their  suf- 
fering fellow-men,  or  the  honor  of  their  God ;  or  to  men  of 
extraordinary  bravery  or  remarkable  business  talents,  alid  we 
should  not  fail  to  discover  what  vast  pre-eminence  man  may 
attain  even  amidst  the  forbidding,  depressing  circumstances  of 
this  present  life  ;  a  delighful  presage  of  what  he  shall  be  when 
disencumbered  from  all  these  mundane  obstructions. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  author  of  "  The  Philosophy  of  a 
Future  State,"  for  a  few  instances  which  occasionally  occur,  of 
the  capacity  and  vigor  of  the  human  mind  even  amidst  the 
obscurities  and  obstructions  to  mental  activity,  which  exist  in 
the  present  state  of  things.  We  cite  them  as  proofs  of  the  ex- 
isting capabilities  of  man,  and  as  pleasing  intimations  of  his 
future  greatness. 

The  illustrious  Pascal,  when  under  the  age  of  twelve 
years,  and  while  immersed  in  the  study  of  languages,  without 
books  and  without  an  instructor,  discovered  and  demonstrated 
most  of  the  propositions  in  the  first  book  of  Euclid,  before  he 
knew  that  such  a  Book  existed.  At  that  early  age  he  was  an 
inventor  of  geometrical  science.  He  made  experiments  and 
discoveries  on  the  nature  of  sound,  on  the  weight  of  the  air ; 
and  demonstrated  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere.  At  the  age 
of  sixteen  he  composed  a  treatise  on  Conic  Sections.  At  nine- 
teen he  invented  an  arithmetical  machine  by  which  calculations 
are  made,  not  only  without  the  help  of  a  pen,  but  without  a 
person's  knowing  a  single  rule  in  arithmetic ;  and  at  the  age 
14 


314  THE   PALACE    OF   THE    GEEAT   KING. 

• 

of  twenty-four  he  had  acquired  a  proficiency  in  almost  every 
branch  of  human  knowledge,  when  his  mind  became  entirely 
absorbed  in  exercises  on  religion.  He  was  as  eminent  for  his 
piety  as  for  his  intellectual  acquirements. 

The  celebrated  Grotius,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  maintained, 
in  the  University  of  Leyden,  theses  in  mathematics,  philosophy 
and  la^v,  with  universal  applause.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he 
formed  literary  plans  which  required  an  amazing  extent  of 
knowledge;  and  he  executed  them  in  such  perfection  as  to 
astonish  the  literary  world.  He  acquitted  himself  in  a  manner 
which  would  have  done  honor  to  the  greatest  scholars  of 'the 
age.  Having  made  an  extraordinary  progress  in  the  sciences, 
he  entered,  with  great  reputation,  on  the  practice  of  law  at 
the  age  of  seventeen.  The  admirable  Crichton,  when  in  his 
twentieth  year,  had  mastered  ten  languages  and  gone  through 
the  whole  circle  of  the  sciences,  as  then  known.  At  Paris,  he 
one  day  engaged  in  a  disputation  which  lasted  nine  hours,  in 
the  presence  of  three  thousand  auditors,  against  four  doctors 
of  the  church,  and  fifty  masters,  on  every  subject  they  could 
propose ;  and  having  silenced  them  all,  he  came  off  amidst  the 
loudest  acclamations,  though  he  had  spent  no  time  in  previous 
preparation.  Gassendi,  a  celebrated  philosopher  of  France,  at 
the  age  of  four,  declaimed  little  sermons  of  his  own  composition  ; 
at  the  age  of  seven,  he  spent  whole  nights  in  observing  the  mo- 
tions of  the  heavenly  bodies,  of  which  he  had  acquired  a  con- 
siderable knowledge  ;  at  sixteen  he  was  appointed  professor 
of  rhetoric  at  Digne  ;  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  was  elected 
professor  of  philosophy  in  the  University  at  Aix.  Nor  was  he 
more  remarkable  for  his  vast  knowledge  of  philosophy  and 
mathematics,  than  for  his  humble  devotion  to  his  God. 


PRECOCITY   OP   GENIUS.  315 

The  world-renowned  Sir  Isaac  Newton  made  his  discover- 
ies in  geometry  and  fluxions,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  his 
two  celebrated  works  by  the  time  he  was  twenty-four  years 
old ;  works  so  abstract,  profound  and  sublime,  that  only  first- 
rate  mathematicians  are  qualified  to  understand  and  appreciate 
them.  He  understood  Euclid  almost  before  he  read  him ;  a 
cast  of  the  eye  upon  the  contents  of  his  theorems,  was  sufficient 
to  make  him  master  of  their  demonstrations.  But  above  all  he 
revered  and  studied  the  Bible.  He  was  as  humbly  devout  as  he 
was  profoundly  great.  At  the  age  of  five,  Philip  Baratier  un- 
derstood the  Greek,  Latin,  German  and  French ;  at  nine,  he 
could  translate  any  part  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  into  Latin, 
and  could  repeat  the  whole  Hebrew  Psalter.  Nor  had  he  made 
less  progress  in  the  sciences  and  other  branches  of  learning. 

These  are  confessedly  extraordinary  cases — exceptions  now 
— but  strikingly  illustrate  the  vigor  and  comprehension  of  the 
human  faculties  ;  and  if  such  varied  and  extensive  acquisitions 
in  knowledge  can  be  attained,  even  amidst  the  frailties  and 
impediments  of  this  mortal  state,  it  is  easy  to  conceive  with 
what  energy  and  rapidity  the  most  sublime  investigations  may 
be  prosecuted  when  these  impediments  shall  be  removed,  and 
when  every  moral  obstruction  shall  be  taken  out  of  the  way. 
"  The  flights  of  the  loftiest  genius  that  ever  appeared  on  earth, 
when  compared  with  the  rapid  movements,  and  the  comprehen- 
sive views  of  the  heavenly  inhabitants,  may  be  no  more  than  as 
the  fluttering  of  the  microscopic  insect  to  the  sublime  flights  of 
the  soaring  eagle.  When  endowed  with  new  and  vigorous 
senses,  and  full  scope  is  afforded  for  exerting  all  the  energies 
of  their  renovated  faculties,  they  may  be  enabled  to  trace  out 
the  hidden  springs  of  Nature's  operations,  to  pursue  the  course 


316          THE  PALACE  OP  THE  GKEAT  KING. 

of  the  heavenly  bodies,  in  their  most  distant  and  rapid  career, 
and  to  survey  the  whole  chain  of  moral  dispensations,  in  refer- 
ence not  only  to  the  human  race,  but  to  the  inhabitants  of 
numerous  worlds." 

But  before  passing  from  the  subject  of  extraordinary  men, 
we  must  cite  a  single  instance  more ;  and  this  not  an  instance 
illustrating  so  remarkable  a  precocity  as  some  already  adduced, 
but  illustrating  a  remarkable  degree  of  industry,  self-reliance 
and  perseverance  in  self-culture.  We  quote  it  the  rather  be- 
cause it  is  a  more  practical  case — a  more  imitable  example. 

The  story  of  Edmund  Stone  is  a  pleasant  one,  and  I  tell 
it  in  the  language  in  which  I  find  it,  hoping  that  so  encourag- 
ing a  tale  will  not  fail  to  stimulate  some  obscure  boy  who  feels 
the  buddings  of  genius  swelling  in  his  bosom,  yet  who  dare 
scarcely  give  these  suppressed  aspirations  vent  even  to  the  most 
intimate  friend,  to  go  and  do  likewise — to  rally  all  the  hidden 
resources  of  his  soul,  to  assert,  in  imitation  of  the  modest  yet 
persevering  boy  and  the  noble  and  learned  man,  the  native 
nobility  of  his  mind,  rescuing  it  from  all  the  difficulties  to  its 
advancement : 

"  Some  years  ago,  Edmund  Stone,  a  boy  eight  years  of 
ago,  was  running  about  the  garden  and  grounds  of  the  Duke 
of  Argyle.  He  was  the  son  of  the  duke's  gardener.  The  lit- 
tle fellow  was  ignorant  of  every  thing  but  what  grew  in  the 
garden,  or  might  be  seen  in  his  father's  cottage.  His  parents 
had  no  means  of  educating  him ;  but  a  servant  of  the  duke's 
household,  out  of  compassion,  taught  him  his  letters,  and  the 
elements  of  reading.  Beading  became  a  habit,  and  formed 
within  him  the  desire  and  love  of  knowledge. 

"  While  the  boy  was  thus  storing  his  mind  with  information 


EDMUND   STONE,   THE   POOK   BOY.  317 

of  various  kinds,  the  duke  built  a  new  wing  to  his  mansion. 
The  lad  looked  on  day  by  day,  as  the  work  proceeded,  and 
seeing  the  architect  make  use  of  a  rule  and  compass  in  his  cal- 
culations, he  inquired  what  it  meant.  The  mystery  was  solved, 
and  he  was  told  that  the  science  of  arithmetic  was  explained 
in  books.  He  borrowed  an  arithmetic,  and  by  persevering 
study  mastered  its  contents. 

"  Geometry  was  then  mentioned  to  him,  and  procuring  a 
book  on  the  subject,  he  soon  mastered  that  in  like  manner. 
Learning  that  the  best  books  on  this  science  were  written  in 
Latin,  he  bought  a  Latin  dictionary  and  grammar,  and  labored 
diligently  until  he  had  acquired  the  language.  Some  one  told 
him  there  were  excellent  scientific  works  in  the  French  tongue ; 
so  he  got  possession  of  a  French  dictionary  and  grammar,  and 
learned  that  language  also. 

u  His  industry  accomplished  all  this  between  the  ages  of 
eight  and  eighteen,  while  learning  his  trade  as  gardener,  under 
his  father, 

"  One  day  the  duke,  coming  into  the  garden,  saw  a  Latin 
copy  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  celebrated  '  Principia,'  lying  on  the 
grass.  Thinking  it  belonged  to  himself,  he  ordered  it  to  be 
carried  back  to  the  library.  The  young  gardener  stepped  for- 
ward, and  said,  *  Your  grace,  the  book  belongs  to  me.'  4  To 
you ! '  replied  the  duke ;  '  do  you  understand  geometry — Latin 
— Newton *?  '  'I  know  a  little  of  them,'  said  the  youth,  who 
felt  that  he  had  made  but  small  attainments,  in  view  of  the 
wide  fields  of  knowledge  opening  before  him.  The  duke,  who 
was  a  scientific  man,  questioned  him  on  the  subject  of  mathe- 
matics, and  was  astonished  at  the  force,  the  accuracy,  and  the 
simplicity  of  his  answers.  He  then  asked  him  of  his  past  life, 
and  learned  from  the  lad's  own  lips  the  history  above  given. 


318  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

"  His  account  charmed  the  duke,  who  drew  the  unconscious 
genius  from  obscurity,  and  provided  him  with  an  employment 
which  gave  him  time  for  the  cultivation  of  the  sciences.  The 
same  talents  were  discovered  in  him  for  music,  painting,  archi- 
tecture, and  all  the  sciences  which  depend  upon  calculations 
and  proportions. 

"Such  is  the  history  of  EDMUND  STONE,  the  well-known 
mathematician.  He  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  preserved  an 
unblemished  reputation,  and  rendered  important  services  to 
science.  Among  his  works  are  a  Mathematical  Dictionary,  a 
treatise  on  Fluxions,  another  on  Euclid,  and  a  work,  on  the  use 
of  mathematical  instruments.  He  died  in  1768." 

Does  the  aspiring  youth  whose  Teachings  after  something 
better  and  greater  seem  pent  up  in  a  hopeless  obscurity  ask 
how  he  shall  attain  to  the  consummation  he  so  ardently  though 
secretly  wishes  ?  we  answer,  "  Let  him  try  and  TRY  again. 
What  has  been  done,  may  be  done.  Though 

"  '  Many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 
And  spend  its  fragrance  on  the  desert  air,' " 

yet  how  many  others  overcome  every  obstacle,  create  re- 
sources where  they  are  not — seem  to  reverse  the  hand  of  desti- 
ny, and  make  themselves  men,  great  men,  controlling  spirits 
in  the  great  world  of  mind,  from  which  their  early  surround- 
ings had  seemed  forever  to  exclude  them. 

In  a  word,  I  might  say  the  highest  style  of  man  is  the 
Christian  Philosopher;  who,  a  proficient  in  all  sciences,  in 
the  arts,  in  literature,  eloquence  and  music,  should  lay  all  his 
vast  learning  and  resources  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross — who 
should  see  God  in  all  things,  the  mighty  and  the  minute — the 


SUBJECTION    OF    NATUKE   TO   MIND.  319 

soul  of  the  universe — the  great  central  Object  of  all  love  and 
adoration. 

Man  by  his  skill  and  mental  powers  is  able,  as  already  inti- 
mated, to  appropriate  to  his  use  all  the  vast  resources  and 
powers  of  nature — powers  and  resources  which  have  heretofore, 
and  for  many  generations,  lain  useless  if  not  unknown.  As 
examples,  we  may  refer  to  water,  wind,  fire,  steam,  electricity, 
magnetism,  nearly  all  sorts  of  minerals,  metals  and  precious 
stones,  and  gums,  saps  and  resins.  It  is  the  power  of  science, 
the  application  of  mind,  that  has  made  water,  wind  and  steam 
such  valuable  locomotive  powers  ;  and  electricity  and  magnet- 
ism, the  instantaneous  messengers  of  our  thoughts  and  wishes 
to  the  other  side  of  the  globe ;  and  minerals  and  metals  and 
all  natural  substances,  the  ready  and  efficient  ministers  of 
man's  comfort  and  progress.  Substances,  which,  in  a  less  ad- 
vanced state  of  society,  were  useless,  become  essential  resources 
for  further  progress.  It  is  not  a  little  interesting  to  follow 
man  in  his  onward  progress :  how  one  substance  after  another, 
one  article  for  food,  or  apparel,  or  for  locomotion,  or  for  his 
progress  and  comfort  in  some  direction,  is  subjected  to  his  use 
as  his  advancement  requires.  Our  domestic  animals,  as  the 
horse,  the  ox,  the  cow,  the  dog,  are  happy  illustrations  of  the 
power  of  mind  to  subjugate  the  animal  kingdom  at  the  feet  of 
the  lords  of  this  lower  creation. 

Man  studies  the  laws  of  air,  heat,  water,  wind ;  discovers 
their  powers  and  habits,  and  then  subjects  them  to  his  own 
purposes.  Minerals,  vegetables  and  animals  are  by  a  similar 
process  appropriated  to  his  use.  And  we  may  safely  assume 
that  such  are  the  native  capacities  of  the  human  mind,  that, 
as  the  race  shall  advance  and  human  wants  shall  multiply, 


320  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

man  shall  be  still  abundantly  equal  to  the  task  of  searching 
out  and  preparing  new  powers  and  substances  which  shall 
meet  the  increased  demand.  And  assuming,  as  we  may,  that 
external  nature  is  but  the  exact  counterpart  of  the  human 
mind,  and  the  latter  being,  as  admitted,  capable  of  an  indefi- 
nite expansion,  we  may  not  doubt  that  nature  has  in  reserve 
(yet  undiscovered)  exhaustless  resources  for  the  future  and  as 
yet  unconceived  progress  of  man. 

Man  has  no  power  to  increase  or  diminish  or  change  a 
single  power  of  nature  or  a  particle  of  matter.  Yet  he  has  the 
power  to  subject  all  nature  to  his  use.  The  running  stream 
offered  the  same  power  to  the  wild  Indian  as  to  the  civilized 
man.  It  was  enlightened  mind  that  discovered  the  method 
of  securing  this  power  and  making  it  turn  the  wheel  of  his 
manufactory.  The  coal  and  the  iron,  the  silver  and  gold,  the 
copper  and  lead,  lay  as  rich  and  abundant  in  the  mine,  and 
the  oil  and  the  gutta  percha  as  bountifully  in  the  tree,  an 
hundred  or  a  thousand  years  ago  as  now.  But  not  till  man's 
need  required,  was  his  skill  employed  to  bring  to  light  and 
subject  to  use  these  puissant  resources. 

All  nature  is  fitted  to  rouse  the  mental  energies,  to  in- 
vigorate and  expand  them  by  giving  them  food  convenient  for 
them.  The  volume  of  nature  is  adapted  to  feed  the  mind,  if 
need  be,  forever ;  while  the  volume  of  revelation,  with  all  its 
thrilling,  infinite  thoughts,  affords  an  eternal  study.  Here  the 
mind  reaches  after  the  Eternal  Mind,  and  seeks  an  assimila- 
tion. 

But  we  here  trench  on  the  confines  of  another  feature 
of  man's  final  destiny.  Man  is  immortal,  and  he  is  capa- 
citated to  take  an  eternal  range  in  the  celestial  fields.  His 


MAN   AND   IMMORTALITY.  321 

relations  to  God  (as  reconciled  through  Christ)  and  to  the  high 
and  holy  intelligences  of  heaven,  are  such  as  to  wing  his  soul 
for  an  eternal  flight.  The  human  soul  is  not  capacitated 
simply  to  traverse  the  whole  field  of  natural  science,  though 
that  were  a  greater  consummation  than  we  can  at  present  con- 
ceive ;  but  he  has  all  the  requisite  capacities  to  pursue  each 
science  and  each  source  of  knowledge,  in  all  its  endlessly  diver- 
sified windings,  to  the  very  verge  of  heaven,  and  there  discover, 
that  it  has  "  its  outgoings  in  the  Infinite  and  Eternal."  This 
immortal  part  claims  kindred  with  the  skies,  and  indicates  a 
nature  capable  of  eternal  research  and  expansion.  Man  is  a 
partaker  of  the  Divine  nature ;  and  in  his  unperverted  state  he 
bears  the  image  of  his  God.  There  is  a  singular  assimilation 
between  the  Creator  and  his  creature  man.  They  exchange 
thoughts  ;  God  speaks ;  man  understands  his  language,  and  in 
his  turn  communicates  with  his  God.  There  is  in  his  soul  a 
reaching  after  immortality  which  betokens  his  true  and  final 
destiny. 

We  have  seen  how  the  whole  material  creation  was  formed 
and  fitted  up,  variegated  and  beautified,  by  a  skill  and  wisdom 
and  benevolence  truly  Divine ;  and  so  formed  and  adapted  in 
all  its  endlessly  diversified  parts  as  to  subserve  all  the  better 
desires  and  the  higher  wants  of  man,  and  to  make  man  truly  a 
noble  being — rich,  happy,  prosperous  in  this  life,  highly  intel- 
lectual, holy,  the  friend  of  God,  the  companion  of  angels,  and 
an  aspirant  for  heirship  and  a  glorious  participation  with  the 
eternal  Heir  of  all  things. 

Nor  has  the  Creator  only  to  "  arrange  the  external  world 
as  to  hold  forth  every  possible  inducement  to  man  to  cultivate 
his  higher  powers,  nay,  almost  to  constrain  him  to  do  so ;"  but 
14* 


322  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

in  beautiful  correspondence  with  this,  we  have  seen  how  the 
living,  breathing,  reasoning  thing,  called  man,  is  himself  so 
formed  and  furnished,  and  all  his  parts  so  delicately  variegated 
and  adapted  to  their  respective  uses,  and  all  so  capable  of  an 
indefinite  improvement  and  expansion,  as  to  indicate  for  man  a 
destiny  higher,  holier,  more  honorable  than  we  can  possibly 
conceive.  His  mental  capabilities,  and  the  strangely  rich  sus- 
ceptibilities of  his  soul,  even  of  infinite  progress  in  the  divine 
and  eternal  life,  unmistakably  point  out  his  fitness  (originally) 
to  occupy  that  exalted  station  of  glory  and  felicity  which 
awaits  those  who  are  by  adoption  the  heirs  of  the  Great 
King. 

Nor  can  the  most  casual  observer  of  the  wonder-working 
Hand  fail  to  discover  how  admirably  fitted  are  the  dispensa- 
tions of  Providence  to  push  man  on  from  one  stage  of  advance- 
ment to  another,  and  finally  to  raise  him  to  that  exalted  rank 
which  he  is  destined  ultimately  to  occupy.  We  have  only  to 
observe  how  God,  by  the  mighty  arm  of  his  Providence,  so  over- 
rules all  human  affairs  as  to  secure  the  greatest  good  and  the 
final  advancement  of  his  creature — man.  To  this  end  he  con- 
trols the  rage  of  war,  makes  and  unmakes  kings,  favors  the 
rise  and  decrees  the  end  of  empires,  rules  among  the  nations, 
makes  even  the  sins  of  men  to  praise  him,  and  restrains  the 
wicked  as  he  pleases.  He  executes  judgments,  sends  afflictions, 
diseases,  trials,  losses,  pains,  persecutions ;  and  then  so  uses 
all  these  dire  ministers  of  his  pleasure  as  to  make  them  speak 
lessons  of  instruction,  of  reproof,  or  caution,  that  men  may  be 
deterred  from  wrong-doing,  and  taught  the  vanity  of  all 
sublunary  things,  that  their  hearts  and  hopes  may  be  directed 
to  an  enduring  treasure  and  unfading  honors.  Or  another 


THE  SMILES  OF  PEOYIDEXCE.  323 

phase  of  Providence  wears  a  benevolent  smile.  The  sunshine 
of  peace,  of  plenty,  of  health  and  general  happiness,  smiles 
over  your  dwelling.  God  now  woos  to  his  arms  by  his  love. 
He  would  melt  the  hard  and  ungrateful  heart,  by  his  unsought, 
unmerited,  but  unremitting  goodness.  The  whole  drift  of 
Providential  dealings  is  to  arrest  man  in  his  downward  course, 
to  hedge  up  his  way,  to  win,  and  to  lead  him  on,  if  not  to  force 
him  up,  to  a  higher  grade  of  life.  He  that  will  devoutly  fol- 
low the  leadings  and  heed  the  monitions  of  Providence,  will 
find  himself  in  possession  of  more  of  this  life  and  a  rich  in- 
heritance in  the  life  to  come. 

But  we  have  a  yet  clearer  intimation  of  what  man  shall  be. 
Divine  inspiration  has  shed  no  doubtful  light  on  his  future 
destiny. 

To  say  nothing  of  the  varied,  rich,  and  valuable  informa- 
tion which  the  Bible  gives  of  the  future  life,  casting  light  on 
man's  dark  pathway  to  the  tomb,  confirming  his  hopes  and 
realizing  his  faith — the  system  of  truth  contained  in  the  Sacred 
Word,  its  precepts,  proverbs  and  parables ;  the  various  illus- 
trations of  real  life — what  to  be  pursued,  what  to  be  eschewed 
— which  it  presents  in  the  form  of  biography  and  narrative ; 
and  its  historical,  poetical,  practical  and  devotional  portions, 
are  all  suited  to  enlighten  the  mind,  to  purify  the  heart,  to 
restrain  men  from  all  things  which  debase  and  disgrace  them ; 
to  engender  higher  hopes  and  to  guide  their  aspirings  upward, 
and  to  urge  them  onward  in  the  cultivation  of  every  grace  and 
virtue,  of  every  moral  excellence  which  can  contribute  to  that 
moral  greatness  which  awaits  the  perfected  man.  Where 
Divine  Truth  is  received  into  a  good  and  honest  heart,  it  is 
sure  to  expand  and  elevate  the  mind,  to  store  it  with  the  most 


324  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

useful  knowledge,  and  to  plant  there  the  most  ennobling  and 
purifying  principles.  It  presents  to  the  mind  ideas  the  most 
sublime,  thoughts  the  most  moving  and  expansive,  hopes  the 
most  ecstatic,  and  motives  as  urgent  and  big  with  interests  as 
three  worlds  can  supply.  What  themes  it  suggests,  how 
fraught  is  it  with  practical  knowledge;  what  heart-stirring 
truths  it  urges  on  the  attention  of  man  !  The  contemplation 
of  such  themes,  the  entertainment  in  the  mind  of  such  truths, 
and  the  indulgence  of  such  hopes  and  such  a  faith  as  those 
trifths  engender,  cannot  but  make  man  a  higher  and  holier 
being,  more  like  angels,  more  like  heaven  and  his  God. 

God  is  the  grand  fountain  of  all  knowledge.  From  him 
cometh  wisdom  and  understanding.  "  There  is  a  spirit  in 
man,  but  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  giveth  him  under- 
standing." Man  has  the  capacities,  the  mind,  the  intelligent 
soul,  but  not  till  God  speaks  to  him  in  his  word,  in  his  provi- 
dence, in  his  works,  does  he  have  "  understanding."  He 
speaks  the  most  distinctly  in  his  word.  Here  he  shadows 
forth  himself;  here  his  attributes,  in  all  their  terribleness,  in 
all  their  loveliness,  are  displayed.  Here  truth  is  portrayed 
in  all  its  beauty  and  majesty.  Here  the  immortal  man,  ere 
he  is  yet  delivered  from  the  cumbrance  of  mortality,  is  caught 
up  to  the  third  heavens  and  hears  things  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory.  Faith  is  the  offspring  of  Divine  Truth.  But  it  is 
faith  that  realizes  to  the  soul  all  the  glories  of  the  upper  world 
— that  identifies  the  soul,  in  hope,  in  interest,  in  final  blessed- 
ness, with  the  great  heir  of  the  universe.  Not  only  is  Divine 
Truth  found  to  be  a  sure  antidote  for  every  moral  evil,  and  the 
sure  means  to  enlighten,  purify  and  ennoble  the  mind  in  its 
present  lapsed  and  unnatural  state,  but  it  imparts  to  the 


INDEBTEDNESS   TO   THE   BIBLE.  325 

mind  the  knowledge  of  eternal  realities,  and  a  moral  fitness 
for  the  joys  of  eternity. 

All  the  good,  and  nearly  all  the  great  ones  who  have  ob- 
tained a  pre-eminence  among  the  sons  of  men,  have  been 
deeply  indebted  to  the  Bible.  Either  directly  or  indirectly 
their  minds  have  been  aroused  by  the  study  of  the  sacred 
pages,  and  they  have  been  made  to  feel  the  force  of  a  higher 
class  of  motives  and  better  aspirations :  allow  the  eye  to  pass 
from  one  class  of  learned  men  to  another,  and  see  if  it  be  not 
so.  How  small  the  proportion  of  wise  philosophers,  or  the 
great  proficients  in  science,  the  arts,  or  poetry,  or  of  great 
statesmen  and  jurists,  who  have  been  infidels !  Kather,  how 
large  a  proportion  have  bowed  reverently  at  the  footstool  of 
Divine  Truth,  and  been  the  humble  followers  of  the  Lamb ! 

Prof.  Henry,  the  distinguished  savant,  and  head  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institute,  testifies  that  he  knows  but  one  man 
among  the  scientific  men  of  the  United  States  who  is  an  infi- 
del. This  fact  speaks  volumes,  and  shows  conclusively  that 
the  lights  of  science  have  any  other  tendency  than  to  make 
men  sceptical  or  unbelievers.  It  is  usually  your  pretenders 
to  scientific  knowledge,  or  men  wholly  destitute  of  any  scien- 
tific attainments,  who  disbelieve,  or  affect  to  do  so.  As  a  gen- 
eral remark,  we  think  it  will  be  found  that  a  vast  majority  of 
them  belong  to  the  latter  class,  being  wholly  ignorant,  or, 
what  js  worse,  mere  smatterers.  And  I  may  here  add 
the  opinion  of  our  great  orator  and  statesman:  Daniel 
Webster  having  been  commended  for  his  eloquence  on  a  mem- 
orable occasion,  replied^  "  If  any  thing  I  have  ever  said  or 
written  deserves  the  feeblest  encomiums  of  my  fellow-country- 
men, I  have  no  hesitation  in  declaring  that  for  their  partiality 


326  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GKEAT   KING. 

I  am  indebted,  solely  indebted,  to  the  daily  and  attentive 
perusal  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  the  source  of  all  true  poetry 
and  eloquence,  as  well  as  of  all  good  and  all  comfort." 

Or  would  we  see  what  resources  there  are  in  Divine  Truth, 
to  elevate  large  masses  of  men — as  communities  and  nations 
— how  it  reforms,  refines  and  civilizes  a  people — enlightens 
the  public  mind,  and  purifies  the  public  sentiment,  we  have 
only  to  compare  for  a  moment  those  nations  that  have  the 
Bible  with  those  that  have  it  not. 

Who  are  our  philanthropists — who  the  great  benefactors  of 
our  race — the  almoners  of  Heaven's  goodness  to  man  ?  Who 
are  the  salt  of  the  earth  and  the  light  of  the  world — who  the 
patrons  of  every  good  thing — the  reformers  of  every  vice—- 
the originators  and  supporters  of  our  humane  and  benevolent 
institutions,  and  the  founders  and  friends  of  our  colleges  and 
seminaries  of  learning  ?  Who  multiply  and  circulate  the  liv- 
ing oracles  of  God,  preach  a  pure  morality  and  the  saving  and 
sanctifying  religion  of  the  gospel,  and  fill  the  world  with  good 
books  ?  These  are  the  works  of  those  who  have  drawn  their 
principles,  motives  and  feelings  from  the  Bible.  Without  this 
sacred  book,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  sound  morality — a 
free  government — a  high  intelligence — a  pure  church — a  holy 
religion,  an  active  benevolence.  As  proof  of  this,  we  need 
only  refer  to  the  history  of  hospitals  for  the  sick — asylums  for 
the  blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb  and  insane,  and  the  numerous 
benevolent,  reforming  and  humane  institutions  which  are  every- 
where the  ornaments  of  a  Bible  land. 

In  its  moral  influence  over  men  and  its  adaptedness  and 
tendencies  to  raise  him  to  a  higher  moral  eminence,  the  Bible 
is  executing  a  higher  mission,  and  one  especially  congenial  to 


WHAT  IS   MAN'S   FINAL   DESTINY?  ^      327 

its  own  nature.  It  contains  an  energy  mighty  enough,  and 
resources  sufficiently  abundant,  to  realize  all  the  prophets  have 
foretold,  and  all  that  the  most  enlarged  benevolence  and  the 
most  devout  piety  are  waiting  for. 

But  there  are  provisions  in  the  exhaustless  fountain  of 
Truth  suited  to  a  yet  higher  consummation.  Not  satisfied  to 
raise  man  simply  from  his  present  moral  debasement,  it  shall 
make  him  sit  with  angels  in  heavenly  places.  It  cherishes 
every  heavenly  grace ;  it  guides  the  holy  aspirations  of  the 
soul  onward,  and  onward  and  upward  to  its  God.  In  the  de- 
sires which  it  inspires,  in  the  affections  it  engenders,  in  the 
hopes  it  cherishes,  it  assimilates  the  contrite  heart  with  the 
ever  blessed  God. 

But  what  is  man's  final  destiny  ?  To  what  eminence  do 
nature,  Providence  and  revelation  indicate  that  man  is  capable 
of  reaching  ?  Shall  he  arrive  at  a  goal  in  his  onward  progress, 
beyond  which  he  may  not  go  1  God  has  not  told  us  what 
man  shall  be.  He  has  spoken  of  a  kingdom,  a  throne,  a 
crown — of  an  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory,  and 
a  mansion  in  our  Father's  house — of  an  assimilation  to  our 
God. 

But  what  these  terms  in  all  their  fulness  imply,  we  do  not 
know.  The  crown  is  a  crown  of  righteousness  ;  the  glory  is  an 
exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory.  The  joy  is  unspeak- 
able and  full  of  glory.  The  best  account  we  have  of  man's 
high  and  holy  destiny  (and  this  is  full  of  hope  and  faith 
and  pleasing  expectation)  is  that  "  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear 
heard,  nor  have  entered  into  the  heart  the  things  God  hath 
reserved  for  those  that  love  him."  "  Behold  what  manner  of 
love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be 


328         THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

called  the  sons  of  God.  It  doth  not  appear  what  we  shall  be ; 
but  we  know  that  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him, 
for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is  : "  see  him  in  all  his  perfection 
and  beauty — see  him  in  all  his  glory  and  majesty,  when  he 
shall  be  revealed  from  heaven,  with  his  mighty  angels,  in 
flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  all  that  obey  not  God — and 
to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  to  be  admired  in  all  them  that 
believe. 

Though  we  cannot  fathom  the  fountain  of  redeeming  love  ; 
though  we  know  not,  in  all  its  blessed  details,  what  God  hath 
reserved  for  them  that  love  him ;  for  as  yet  we  cannot  rise  on 
the  wings  of  faith  high  enough  to  overlook  the  glories  and 
beatitudes  of  the  New  Jerusalem ;  yet,  to  the  expectant  heir 
of  all  this  glory,  it  is  worth  ten  thousand  worlds  to  know  that 
his  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  and  that  "when  Christ 
who  is  his  life  shall  appear,  then  shall  he  also  appear  with  him 
in  glory." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  MIND  OF  GOD  :  The  Infinitude  of  the  Perceptions  and  Ideas  in  the  Divine 

Mind. 

WHAT  a  wonderful  Being,  then,  is  God !  Who,  by  searching, 
can  find  out  God  ?  who  can  find  out  the  Almighty  to  perfec- 
tion ?  it  is  as  high  as  heaven ;  what  canst  thou  do  ?  deeper  than 
hell ;  what  canst  thou  know  ?  The  measure  thereof  is  larger 
than  the  earth  and  broader  than  the  sea.  When  puny  man 
would  scan  the  wondrous  attributes  of  the  infinite  God,  he  is 
like  the  minutest  insect,  that,  perched  on  a  grain  of  sand  upon 
the  sea-shore,  should  essay  to  measure  the  length,  and  breadth, 
and  depth  of  the  boundless  ocean,  rehearse  its  wonders,  declare 
its  laws  and  descant  on  its  varied  utilities.  His  vision  extends 
but  a  span  ;  his  broadest  comprehension  reaches  but  to  an  infin- 
itesimal portion  of  the  wide  world  of  waters  before  him  ;  and 
the  brief  day  of  his  existence  contracts  the  field  of  his  observa- 
tions within  the  narrowest  limits. 

But  man  may  know  something  of  God ;  and  the  little  he 
knows  may  seem  to  be  much.  And  it  is  enough  for  all  his 
present  purposes — enough  to  give  him  the  most  exalted  and 
ecstatic  idea  of  that  wonderful  Being — enough  to  rouse  every 
dormant  energy  of  the  mind,  and  to  engage  every  desire  to 
know  more  of  such  a  God  and  to  seek  his  eternal  favor. 


330  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GKEAT   KING. 

While  it  is. doubtless  true  that  we  can  comprehend  but 
very  partially  the  infinitude  of  the  Divine  Mind — its  capabil- 
ity of  being  directed  towards,  and  of  controlling  every  event 
and  every  object  in  the  wide  universe,  however  minute  or 
magnificent,  and  all  at  the  same  instant  of  time,  and  without 
the  least  effort,  or  confusion,  or  possibility  of  mistake  or  fail- 
ure ;  yet  we  can  comprehend  enough — know  enough  to  fill 
our  minds  with  the  most  adorable  sense  of  the  perfections  of 
the  eternal  Godhead. 

We  can  form  no  just  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  creation — 
of  the  number  of  worlds  God  has  made — of  the  immense  quan- 
tity of  matter  they  contain — of  the  infinite "  variety  of  beings 
that  people  these  worlds,  and  the  no  less  wonderful  displays 
of  beauty,  wisdom  and  skill  which  appear  in  the  fitting  up  of 
these  wonderful  palaces  for  habitation,  and  for  the  supply  of 
the  wants  of  all  these  inhabitants.  It  is  beyond  our  compre- 
hension that  there  should  exist  a  Being  who  can  with  perfect 
ease  govern  even  a  single  world — to  order  all  its  changes,  to 
control  all  its  events — that  he  should  be  able  to  superintend 
the  pencilling  of  every  flower — the  gilding  of  the  tiniest  in- 
sect's wing,  and  the  vegetating  of  the  minutest  seed.  And 
much  less  can  we  comprehend  how  this  wonderful  Being  can 
at  the  same  instant  and  without  confusion  or  fatigue,  or  the 
possibility  of  mistake,  govern  the  affairs — not  only  the  most 
seemingly  insignificant,  but  changes  and  motions  which  re- 
quire a  power  which  beggars  all  conception — of  more  worlds 
than  we  can  number !  That  he  does  these  things  there  can  be 
no  question.  For  things  could  not  subsist  as  we  now  see 
them,  were  there  not  one  supreme,  all-pervading,  all-control- 
ling, and  constantly  and  universally  acting  POWER — and  that 
Power  is  God. 


THE   IDEAS   AND   PERCEPTIONS    OF   GOD.  331 

We  have  seen  in  the  foregoing  pages,  how  profusely  be- 
nevolent God  is  ;  and  to  carry  out  his  boundless  schemes  of 
benevolence,  how  wonderful  he  is  in  working.  In  all  the 
varied  and  superabounding  provisions  which  he  has  made  for 
the  happiness  of  his  creatures,  and  the  supply  of  their  endless 
wants,  he  has  exercised  the  tenderest,  the  most  fatherly  regard 
for  them  all. 

These  things  being  so,  it  must  follow  (and  it  is  the  design 
of  the  present  chapter  to  illustrate)  that  the  ideas  and  percep- 
tions of  the  Divine  Mind  must  reach  to  every  event,  every 
object,  every  change  which  exists,  or  can  exist  in  the  bound- 
less universe ;  and  that  these  ideas  and  perceptions  exist  in 
the  Divine  Mind  as  present  realities.  With  God  there  is  no 
past,  no  future ;  all  is  an  eternal  NOW. 

With  man  the  entire  future  is  an  unknown  land.  Every 
event,  every  act,  is  completely  shrouded  from  his  view.  The 
veil  is  impenetrable,  and  a  veil  almost  as  impenetrable  cur- 
tains from  us  the  past.  Probably  not  one  in  a  thousand  of  its 
events  and  acts  lives  in  the  memory  of  the  present.  The  great 
panorama  of  human  affairs  moves  on.  The  eye  surveys  only 
the  passing  scenes.  These  in  their  turn  pass  on  and  are  for- 
gotten, and  their  places  are  occupied  by  those  which  were  hid 
before.  But  God  surveys  the  whole,  the  past,  the  future,  as 
always  present. 

What  an  idea  does  this  give  us  of  the  Divine  Mind — of 
his  perceptions  and  ideas — of  his  thoughts  !  "  Many,  O  Lord 
my  God,  are  thy  wonderful  works  which  thou  hast  done ;  and 
thy  thoughts  which  are  to  usward :  they  cannot  be  reckoned 
up  in  order  unto  thee ;  if  I  would  declare  and  speak  of  them, 
they  are  more  than  can  be  numbered."  "  O  Lord,  how  great 


332  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

are  thy  works  !  and  thy  thoughts  are  very  deep."  The  royal 
singer  here  connects  the  multiplicity  of  the  works  of  God,  and 
the  wonderful  ways  of  his  providence,  with  his  no  less  won- 
derful thoughts.  God  forms  nothing,  does  nothing,  controls 
and  preserves  nothing,  which  is  not  with  him  a  matter  of 
thought ;  and  if  once  a  subject  of  thought,  and  if  the  idea  be 
once  in  his  mind,  it  always  has  been  and  always  will  be  there. 
In  the  Divine  Mind,  thoughts,  ideas,  perceptions,  cannot  come 
and  then  pass  away  as  with  man.  Of  such  a  mind  we  have 
no  adequate  knowledge  or  experience,  no  competent  concep- 
tion. Yet  such,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  must  be  the  mind  of 
God.  With  him  there  is  nothing  new,  nothing  old.  He  can 
acquire  no  new  idea  or  thought ;  and  none  possessed  can  ever 
pass  from  his  mind.  All  things  are  at  all  times,  and  in  every 
part  of  the  universe,  naked  and  open  to  his  view. 

God  has  a  plan,  purpose  or  choice  as  to  every  thing  he 
does.  From  eternity  he  foreknew  and  foresaw  all  that  he 
would  do.  The  idea  of  the  thing  to  be  done,  or  of  the  event 
to  come  to  pass,  must  have  lain"  in  the  Divine  Mind  from 
eternity,  and  will  remain  there  to  eternity.  Not  an  object, 
therefore,  can  exist  in  the  vast  expanse  of  the  universe,  or  a 
change  take  place,  or  an  act  be  performed,  or  an  emotion 
indulged  by  creature  high  or  low,  or  an  affection  move  the 
heart,  or  a  thought  enter  the  mind,  of  which  the  Divine  Mind 
is  not  constantly  cognizant.  Every  phenomenon,  every  oper- 
ation in  nature  throughout  the  vast  realms  of  creation,  how- 
ever magnificent  or  minute,  is  always  present  to  the  Great 
Mind.  God  does  nothing  by  way  of  experiment  or  guess. 
He  acts  in  all  things  intelligently.  The  distinct  idea  is  always 
before  his  mind ;  and  he  forms  every  plan  and  executes  every 
purpose  according  to  the  eternal  pattern. 


THE   THOUGHTS    OF   GOD.  333 

There  is  something  inconceivably  grand  in  the  idea,  that, 
while  the  thoughts  of  God  are  engaged  in  the  control  of  mil- 
lions of  millions  of  worlds,  originating  and  guiding  their 
motions — sustaining  the'balance  of  the  vast  system — directing 
every  particle  of  matter  in  each  of  those  huge  bodies— pro- 
viding for  all  the  wants  of  their  inhabitants,  even  the  most 
insignificant,  and  superintending  every  change,  however  appa- 
rently unimportant,  he  at  the  same  moment  exercises  a  care 
and  superintendence  not  the  less  particular,  over  the  minutest 
atom,  act  or  event,  in  this  world  which  we  call  ours.  Not  a 
sparrow  falls  to  the  ground  without  his  notice.  His  unremit- 
ting care,  his  kind  and  ceaseless  thoughts,  are  upon  every 
creature  he  has  made.  He  formed  each  according  to  the  type 
which  is  eternally  in  his  mind. 

Life,  in  all  its  forms  and  manifestations,  in  all  its  mem- 
bers, organizations  and  uses ;  beauty  the  most  perfect,  and 
adaptations  the  most  wise  and  delicate,  are  but  the  exact  coun- 
terparts of  ideas  inherent  in  the  Universal  Mind.  And  the 
thoughts  of  God  are  equally  engaged  to  endue  every  species 
of  life  with  its  appropriate  propensities  and  instincts — to  pro- 
vide food  convenient  for  all — to  confine  each  to  its  appropriate 
sphere — and  to  direct  the  endlessly  varied  activities  of  the 
whole  so  that  each  shall  fulfil  its  destined  purposes.  The 
insect,  so  small  as  to  elude  the  utmost  stretch  of  human  vi- 
sion, has  a  place  in  the  thoughts  of  the  great  I  AM.  Each  fills 
its  place  and  fulfils  its  mission  as  certainly  as  the  huge  globe 
which  wheels  its  way  about  its  sun  in  a  circuit  of  millions  of 
miles,  giving  locality  and  sustenance  to  hosts  of  creatures  of 
every  kind  and  caste. 

Such  unremitting  thought  has  God  for  all  his  creatures, 


334          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

that  he  "  feeds  the  young  ravens  when  they  cry  :  the  young 
lions  seek  their  meat  from  him."  "  Creeping  things  innumer- 
able, both  small  and  great  beasts  " — the  monsters  that  play 
in  the  deep,  and  every  living  thing — "'these  wait  all  upon  thee 
that  thou  mayest  give  them  their  meat  in  due  season :  thou 
openest  thy  hand,  they  are  filled  with  good.  Thou  hidest  thy 
face,  they  are  troubled :  thou  takest  away  their  breath,  they 
die,  and  return  to  their  dust."  '  And  as  one  generation  passes 
off,  God  sends  forth  his  spirit  and  creates  another,  and  thus 
"  renews  the  face  of  the  earth."  Such  unwearied  care  for  his 
creatures  requires  on  the  part  of  God  unceasing  thought. 
How  wonderful  the  calculations  (all  implying  constant  thought 
and  a  distinct  idea  at  all  times,  of  the  work  to  be  done)  that 
adapt  climates,  soils  and  seasons,  so  that  the  earth  should 
bring  forth  in  sufficient  abundance  and  variety  to  supply  his 
great  and  varied  family — to  say  nothing  of  the  calculations 
and  thoughts  needful  to  give  existence  to  such  a  variety  of 
living  forms,  bestowing  upon  them  the  various  instincts  and 
functions  of  life,  and  then  extinguishing  this  life  when  its  brief 
day  or  year  expires,  and  its  respective  mission  is  fulfilled! 
We  cannot  conceive  of  a  mind  so  capacious,  so  comprehensive, 
so  untiring.  But  such  is  the  mind  of  God. 

If  God  be  indeed  everywhere  present, — the  past  and  the 
future,  as  if  all  were  present, — his  thoughts  must  extend  to  all 
things ;  an  infinitude  of  ideas  lie  in  his  mind.  "  The  same 
God,  who  holds  the  universe,  with  its  every  system,  in  the 
hollow  of  his  hand,  pencils  every  flower  and  gives  nourish- 
ment to  every  blade  of  grass,  and  actuates  the  movement  of 
every  living  thing,  is  not  disabled  by  the  weight  of  his  other 
cares,  from  enriching  the  humblest  department  of  nature  with 


GOD'S   UNEEMITTING   CARE.  335 

charms  and  accommodations  of  the  most  unbounded  variety."* 
He  is  ever  mindful  of  the  nature  of  the  merest  infinitesimal 
particle ;  of  its  adaptations,  for  he  had  regard  to  these  in  its 
creation ;  of  its^  relations  to  all  other  particles — the  changes 
it  shall  pass  through,  and  its  uses  in  all  its  varied  relations, 
changes  and  adaptations ;  whether  it  enter  into  the  composi- 
tion of  a  mineral,  a  plant,  a  jewel  or  a  flower — whether  it  be- 
come the  component  part  of  the  arm  or  the  brain  of  man,  or 
form  a  particle  in  a  nerve  or  blood-vessel  of  some  invisible 
animalcule  ;  or  whether  it  gild  the  wing  of  the  tiniest  insect, 
it  is  the  object  of  unremitting  attention  in  the  mind  of  the 
great  Former. 

Accept  as  an  example  the  300,000  species  of  animals  which 
are  said  to  exist.  Not  only  all  these  species  have  their  exact 
counterparts — their  ideas — in  the  Divine  Mind,  but  each  of  the 
millions  of  individuals  of  all  these  species.  And  not  only  so, 
but  every  joint  and  muscle ;  every  organ,  function  and  attri- 
bute ;  every  characteristic  and  habit — the  form,  and  right  inser- 
tion of  every  nerve,  sinew  and  blood-vessel ;  and  the  intention 
and  adaptations  of  each  to. perform  the  office  designed,  receive 
as  particular  attention  from  the  great  Architect,  as  if  each  were 
the  exclusive  object  of  his  regard.  Yet  the  great  Mind  is  as 
truly  active  at  the  same  moment  towards  every  other  object 
in  every  part  of  his  dominions ;  and  all  this  without  the 
slightest  confusion  or  weariness.  "  Magnitude  does  not  over- 
power him,  minuteness  cannot  escape  him,  and  variety  cannot 
bewilder  him ;  and  at  the  very  time  while  the  mind  of 
the  Deity  is  abroad  over  the  whole  vastness  of  creation,  there 
is  not  one  particle  of  matter,  there  is  not  one  individual  prin- 

*  Chalmers'  Natural  Theology. 


336          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

ciple  of  rational  or  of  animal  existence,  there  is  not  one  single 
world  in  that  expanse  which  teems  with  them,  that  his  eye 
does  not  discern  as  constantly,  and 'his  hand  does  not  guide 
as  unerringly,  and  his  Spirit  does  not  watch  and  care  for  as 
vigilantly,  as  if  it  formed  the  one  and  exclusive  object  of  his 
attention ! "  Yet  so  vast  are  the  works  of  his  hands  that  "  the 
glories  of  an  extended  forest  would  suffer  no  more  from  the 
fall  of  a  single  leaf,  than  the  glories  of  this  extended  universe 
would  suffer,  though  the  globe  we  tread  upon,  and  '  all  that  it 
inhabit,'  should  dissolve."  The  mind  of  God  comprehends 
the  whole  at  a  glance.  From  beginning  to  end — from  eternity 
to  eternity,  all  are  as  present  realities  to  the  Universal  Mind, 

But  the  Psalmist  marvels  at  the  thoughts  of  God  in  an- 
other respect :  "  Many,  O  Lord,  are  thy  thoughts  which  are 
to  us-ward."  Man  is  a  complete  world  in  himself.  If  God 
had  done  nothing  but  to  form  man  with  such  a  wonderful 
mechanism — to  endue  him  with  such  grace,  beauty  and  intel- 
ligence— to  adapt  him  to  external  nature,  and  to  supply  his 
wants  in  such  abundance  and  in  such  unbounded  variety,  we 
should  have  enough  before  us,  to  indicate  without  doubt  the 
wonderful  wisdom  of  God.  His  thoughts  to.us-ward  are  more 
than  we  can  number. 

God  could  never  have  formed  either  the  physical  or  the 
mental  man  as  he  is  except  as  he  foresaw — as  the  thought  or 
idea  was  in  his  mind — how  every  part  should  be  formed,  how 
all  the  parts  should  harmonize,  and  be  adapted  to  accomplish 
the  purpose  designed.  The  human  structure,  though  so  heter- 
ogeneous, intricate  and  compound,  is  formed  of  a  very  few 
simple  elements,  and  these  few  elements  so  skilfully  combined 
as  to  produce  substances  that  appear  altogether  dissimilar. 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  THE  BODY  FEW.         337 

Bones,  flesh,  blood,  hair,  skin,  nails,  how  unlike,  yet  scarcely 
more  than  modifications  and  different  proportions  of  the  same 
substances.  But  the  selection  arid  the  compounding  of  the 
materials,  and  the  due  proportioning  of  all  the  parts,  and  their 
relations  and  adaptations  one  to  another,  are  matters  which 
imply  the  most  consummate  skill,  and  the  minutest  attention. 
Had  the  bones,  flesh,  skin  or  any  ingredient  of  the  body  been 
compounded  in  the  least  degree  differently,  it  would  not  have 
served  the  purpose  designed,  and  the  whole  system  would  be 
thrown  into  disorder.  If  the  blood  had  been  of  a  different 
consistency,  or  the  bone  more  or  less  dense,  or  the  skin  more 
or  less  porous,  or  the  pores  possessed  of  a  greater  or  a  less 
absorbing  power,  it  would  derange  the  harmony  and  frustrate 
the  end  of  the  whole  mechanism  ;  and  so  if  a  joint,  or  a  blood- 
vessel, or  a  nerve  were  not  made  and  preserved  just  as  they 
are. 

All  these  things  imply  the  unceasing  attention  of  the 
Divine  Mind.  A  moment's  disregard  would  throw  all  into 
confusion  and  distress,  and  would  thwart  the  ends  for  which 
man  was  made. 

Nor  shall  we  discover  the  unremitting  care  of  God  the 
less  strikingly,  if  we  contemplate  the  human  system,  as,  in 
good  degree,  self-preserving,  self-restoring  and  self-perpetuat- 
ing. The  arrangements  which  secure  such  singular  results  are 
of  God ;  and  in  their  origin  and  constant  operation,  imply  the 
constant  thought  of  the  great  Former  and  Preserver.  And 
God's  thoughts  to  us-ward  appear  not  the  less  wonderful  in 
the  formation  of  the  mind — in  its  singular  connection  and  co- 
operation with  the  body,  and  in  its  extraordinary  capacities 
and  activities.  The  offices  of  reason,  memory,  association, 
15 


338  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

and  indeed  all  the  operations  of  mind,  suppose  the  constant 
presence  of  the  Divine  Mind.  We  say  God  knows  our 
thoughts,  not  our  present  thoughts  merely,  or  for  the  present 
moment,  but  he  knew  from  eternity  every  thought  and  opera- 
tion that  ever  passed  through  our  minds  or  ever  will. 

Again,  both  the  mind  and  the  body  are  largely  subjected 
to  the  dominion  of  the  will.  Bodily  organs,  limbs  and  mus- 
cles move  as  the  will  dictates  ;  and  the  operations  of  the  mind 
are  subject  very  much  to  the  same  authority.  There  is,  in  the 
mechanism  which  secures  such  a  result,  displayed  a  skill  and 
delicacy  of  workmanship  which  is  nothing  less  than  divine. 
And  in  all  the  operations  of  this  mechanism  there  is  a  neces- 
sity that  the  great  forming  Mind  should  exercise  a  constant 
inspection  and  control. 

Every  process  of  reasoning,  then, — every  thought,  inten- 
tion, act  of  the  will,  is  open  and  naked  unto  Him  with  whom 
we  have  to  do.  For  if  God  were  ignorant  of  a  single  action, 
thought  or  secret  intent,  of  a  man's  whole  life,  he  would  not 
be  a  competent  judge  at  the  last  day.  Man  is  to  be  judged — 
rewarded  or  punished — according  to  the  deeds  done  here  in 
the  body,  implying,  no  doubt,  the  motives  and  secret  inten- 
tions which  impelled  to  these  deeds.  "  The  Book  of  God's 
remembrance "  is  the  boundless  reservoir  of  his  ideas  and 
thoughts.  This  book  is  a  mirror,  in  which  God  can,  at  any 
instant,  and  at  every  moment  from  eternity  to  eternity,  see 
every  desire,  thought  or  motive  of  every  intelligent  creature. 

We  have  seen  how  the  all-controlling  Mind  is  present,  in 
unceasing  thought  and  activity,  with  the  millions  and  millions 
of  worlds — systems  on  systems — which  wheel  in  awful  gran- 
deur over  the  boundless  fields  of  ether ;  how  the  exercise  of 


THE   DIVINE   PRESCIENCE   COMPLETE.  339 

such  inconceivable  power — the  exactitude  with  which  every 
revolution  is  performed — the  preserving  of  the  balance  among 
the  huge  and  countless  masses  of  matter,  so  as  to  secure  the 
harmony  of  the  whole,  and  keep  in  tune  the  "  music  of  the 
spheres,"  presupposes  the  constant  presence  and  the  un- 
wearied application  of  the  Eternal  Mind ;  and  in  like  manner 
that  the  same  Divine  prescience  as  completely  pervades  that 
little  mysterious  world  known  as  the  creature  man,  and  that 
no  less  mysterious  world,  the  minutest  animalcule  which  the 
microscope  reveals.  But  there  is  another  phase  of  humanity 
which  may  serve  as  an  illustration  : 

Man  is  an.  immortal  being,  yet  a  depraved  being ;  an 
enemy  and  an  alien  from  his  God,  yet  capable  of  a  union  with 
the  divine  nature,  and  a  participation  in  the  honor  and  bliss 
of  angels.  Man's  moral  relations,  therefore,  to  his  God,  are, 
in  the  divine  estimation,  of  vastly  greater  moment  than  all  his 
other  relations.  God  must  be  such  a  one  as  can  judge  the 
world  in  righteousness.  Were  not  then  the  Divine  Mind  an 
endless  series  of  thoughts,  and  were  not  every  link  of  the 
entire  chain  of  human  actions  and  thoughts  ever  present  to 
that  mind,  how  could  God  take  account  of  all  his  rational 
creatures  and  at  the  last  day  render  an  impartial  and  righteous 
judgment  1  Not  one  act,  one  thought,  one  secret  intention  or 
hidden  and  forbidden  desire  will  be  overlooked.  Every  cir- 
cumstance in  which  a  man  did  right  or  wrong,  every  motive 
which  actuated  him,  every  palliation  or  aggravation  in  the 
case,  every  aid  vouchsafed  on  the  part  of  God,  and  every 
opportunity  or  privilege  improved  or  slighted,  will  come  in 
as  vital  items  in  the  last  great  account ;  and  if  they  be  not  all 
present  in  the  mind  of  the  Judge,  how  can  he  award  a  right- 


340          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

ecus  judgment  ?  All  must  be  indelibly  engraven  on  the  mind 
of  the  Judge.  Who  can  know  the  mind  of  the  Lord  ?  who 
can  number  his  thoughts  ? 

Did  our  theme  require  further  illustration  we  might  find 
a  prolific  one  in  the  dispensations  of  Providence  and  of  grace. 

God  governs  the  world  by  his  Providence.  But  he  cannot 
be  an  intelligent,  righteous  governor,  unless  he  have  a  full 
and  present  knowledge  of  all  the  main  springs  of  human 
action — of  all  the  passions,  emotions,  principles  and  overt  acts 
which  go  to  make  up  human  character.  He  must  be  able  to 
survey  at  a  glance  the  entire  character  and  conduct  of  every 
subject.  All  must  be  forever  portrayed  on  the  Divine  Mind 
as  on  canvas,  and  ever  visible  to  the  divine  eye :  otherwise 
he  cannot  reign  in  righteousness. 

And  equally  true  is  it  that  all  the  dispensations  of  divine 
grace ;  all  God's  dealings  with  man  as  a  moral  being ;  all 
hidden  rebellions  and  sins  and  temptations ;  all  his  faith  and 
repentance  and  turning  to  God  and  rejoicing  in  a  good  hope  of 
eternal  life ;  all  his  works  of  faith  and  labors  of  love,  stand 
written  in  the  book  of  God's  remembrance,  and  all  shall  one 
day  be  read  in  the  ear  of  the  assembled  universe :  else  how 
shall  God  be  vindicated,  who  casts  off  some,  and  accepts  oth- 
ers ;  else  what  becomes  of  that  "  firm  foundation,"  that  rock 
of  unwavering  confidence  and  intelligent  security,  on  which 
the  saints  shall  forever  stand  ?  else  one  might  be  adjudged  to 
heaven  to-day,  but  some  new  fact  transpiring — some  new 
view  of  his  character  being  revealed  to  the  mind  of  the  Judge, 
the  decision  would  be  reversed,  our  supposed  saint  would  to- 
morrow be  obliged  to  exchange  his  residence  in  the  King's 
palace  above,  for  the  chains  of  darkness  and.  the  prison  house 
of  the  universe. 


THE   DIVINE   MIND   INFINITE.  341 

Such,  then,  must  be  the  nature  of  the  Divine  Mind  that  has 
a  present  cognizance  of  every  thought,  desire  and  purpose  of 
every  man  that  ever  lived  or  shall  live ;  and  this  too  from  his 
birth  to  his  death.  And  God  is  acquainted  with  and  orders 
all  circumstances,  influences,  temptations,  afflictions — as  well 
as  all  the  teachings,  invitations,  warnings  and  reproofs,  which 
form  the  character,  or  constitute  the  responsibilities  of  the 
man.  These  are  all  necessarily  omnipresent  in  the  mind  of 
Him  who  shall  judge  the  world  in  righteousness. 

We  might  then  end  this  chapter  as  we  began  it,  by  repeat- 
ing, "  How  wonderful  a  Being  is  God  !  "  To  the  finite  mind 
he  is  altogether  incomprehensible.  We  can  form  no  adequate 
idea  that  any  mind  can  be  so  capacious  as  to  contain  im- 
pressed upon  it  an  indelible  and  eternal  idea  of  every  object, 
motion,  thought  and  event  which  has  ever  transpired,  or  shall 
transpire  from  eternity  to  eternity. 

The  theme  I  have  undertaken  to  illustrate  in  the  foregoing 
pages,  gives  us  perhaps  the  most  clear  and  comprehensive 
idea  we  can  at  present  obtain  of  the  infinitude  of  the  Eternal 
Mind.  All  the  creatures,  all  the  works,  and  all  the  ways  of 
God  "  existed  in  his  incomprehensible  mind  during  countless 
ages,  before  the  universe  was  formed."  What  an  infinity  of 
thoughts  and  conceptions !  What  unbounded  scope  of  mind  ; 
what  infinite  comprehension  !  Not  an  object,  change  or  oper- 
ation in  nature  so  great  or  so  minute,  but  God  is  present  in 
his  nature  and  almighty  agency  to  direct  it.  Not  a  providen- 
tial act  or  event  so  far-reaching  and  vast,  or  so  seemingly 
insignificant  as  not  to  command  the  unremitting  regard  of  the 
great  Controller ;  and  not  an  act  of  grace  to  console  the  de- 
sponding heart  of  the  most  lowly  saint,  but  God  is  the  ready 


342         THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

author,  pouring  the  consolatory  balm  into  the  wounded  spirit. 
The  breathing  of  the  feeblest  desire,  the  suppressed  groan  of 
the  oppressed,  and  merest  sigh  of  the  penitent,  alike  make 
their  impression,  and  leave  their  image  stamped  on  the  great 
Mind  of  the  universe.  "  Thy  thoughts,  O  Lord,  are  more  than 
we  can  number." 

We  are  amazed  at  the  idea  that  God  should  be  the  author 
of  such  a  countless  variety  of  natures  and  forms ;  and  his 
watchful  care  should  be  over  all  his  works.  He  is  an  every- 
where present  God.  Not  the  minutest  thing  escapes  his  no- 
tice. He  clothes  the  grass  with  its  particolored  coat ;  he  varie- 
gates the  flower  ;  he  diversifies  the  sounds  that  salute  the  ear, 
and  the  odors  that  perfume  the  air.  Not  the  most  insignifi- 
cant particle  floats  without  his  notice. 

Surely,  then,  such  a  God  will  not  allow  the  sinner  to  go 
unpunished.  His  vigilance  over  him  will  be  in  proportion  to 
the  worth  of  his  soul.  For  him  the  heavens  were  garnished  ; 
for  him  all  nature  is  variegated  and  clothed  in  beauty  and 
loveliness  ;  and  for  him  all  things  are  so  constituted  that  he 
may  rejoice  in  them  and  be  happy.  And  think  you  he  will 
pass  unnoticed  man's  ingratitude  and  rebellion  1 

Of  the  many  reflections  which  the  foregoing  chapters  urge 
on  the  mind,  I  shall  name  but  three  : 

And,  first,  How  much  has  God  done  to  make  his  creatures 
happy  !  He  formed  man  for  happiness,  and  then  he  fitted  up 
creation  about  him  in  a  manner  precisely  adapted  to  make 
him  happy.  The  constitution  of  man  is  an  exact  counterpart 
to  the  constitution  of  nature.  Plas  God  endowed  man  with 
organs  of  sense  capable  of  deriving  gratification  from  external 
objects,  and  then  not  produced  those  objects  and  adapted  them 


RESOURCES    OF  THE   GREAT  KING.  343 

to  this  end  1  Has  he  implanted  in  mind  insatiable  desires 
for  novelty — an  indomitable  love  of  variety,  and  then  made  in 
nature  no  corresponding  provision  for  their  gratification? 
God  has  so  variegated  his  works  as  to  make  a  contemplation 
of  them  one  of  the  highest  sources  of  gratification  in  the  pres- 
ent constitution  of  things,  and  to  lay  a  foundation  of  eternal 
felicity  hereafter.  Eternity  will  not  be  too  long  to  survey, 
to  admire,  and  enjoy  the  endlessly  diversified  and  the  innu- 
merably multitudinous  works  of  the  Divine  skill. 

Again,  What  fearful  resources  are  laid  up  in  the  armory 
of  the  Great  King  by  which  to  make  the  wicked  miserable ! 
"Who  would  not  fear  the  wrath  of  the  King  !  And  if  that 
King  be  possessed  of  all  knowledge  and  wisdom  ;  if  his  power 
be  unlimited,  and  his  riches  boundless,  and  every  possible 
resource  be  at  his  command,  so  that  he  may  bring  the  full 
weight  of  his  power  to  bear  on  one  who  should  transgress  his 
law  and  thereby  incur  his  displeasure,  who  could  withstand 
his  anger  ?  who  would  not  be  as  the  stubble  before  the  de- 
vouring fire  1 

But  God  is  a  Great  King.  How  great  he  is,  how  mighty, 
with  what  manifold  wisdom  he  is  endowed,  of  what  inexhaust- 
ible riches  possessed,  what  boundless  resources  are  at  his  com- 
mand, the  foregoing  discussion  gives  us  some  intimation. 
How  blessed  to  have  such  a  one  for  a  Friend,  but  how  dread- 
ful to  encounter  him  as  an  Enemy  !  Who  can  stand  before 
him  when  his  anger  is  kindled  but  a  little  ?  Fear  God.  He 
not  only  can  kill,  but  he  has  power  to  cast  into  hell,  and  none 
can  deliver  out  of  his  hands.  He  can  open,  and  none  can  shut ; 
he  can  shut,  and  none  can  open.  If  he  be  your  enemy,  no 
friend  in  the  universe  can  help  you.  Oh,  then,  make  your 


344  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

peace  with  God.  Take  refuge  in  Christ ;  for  out  of  Christ. 
God  is  a  consuming  fire. 

Finally,  Hoio  should  we  demean  ourselves  in  the  presence  of 
such  a  God  !  As  David  contemplated  God  in  his  works,  he 
said  :  "  I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord  as  long  as  I  live  :  I  will  sing 
praise  unto  the  Lord  while  I  have  a  being.  My  meditation 
of  him  shall  be  sweet :  I  will  be  glad  in  the  Lord."  He  would 
think  much  on  God ;  he  would  ponder  his  works  and  his  ways. 
Such  meditations  he  found  sweet.  It  was  delightful  to  turn 
off  from  the  humiliating  contemplation  of  his  own  weakness 
and  depravity,  to  think  on  the  infinite  purity  and  excellence 
of  God — to  seek  relief  from  the  moral  wastes  and  corruptions 
of  humanity  in  the  truth  and  holiness  of  the  Godhead.  Here 
he  discovers  reasons  for  eternal  praise.  While  he  lived  in 
the  flesh — yea,  as  long  as  he  should  have  a  being,  his  spirit 
should  never  cease  to  sing  praises  to  Jehovah. 

And  have  we  not  the  same  reasons  to  rejoice  in  the  Lord — 
to  honor,  love  and  serve  the  great  I  AM  ? — the  same  motives 
to  light  up  our  souls  and  to  fire  our  hearts  in  holy  zeal  for 
the  honor  of  such  a  God  1  All  nature  rebukes  our  apathy. 
Every  thing  that  God  has  made  urges  us  on  to  fidelity,  and 
zeal,  and  holy  love.  While  we  have  a  being,  then,  let  us 
honor  Him  who  has  so  gloriously  honored  himself  in  all  his 
works. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

The  Divine  Complacency— The  Happiness  of  God  in  the  Contemplation  of  his  "Works 
and  his  Ways,  and  his  own  Attributes  and  Character. 

BEFORE  concluding  a  volume,  the  design  of  which  is  to  conduct 
the  mind  of  the  reader  through  nature  up  to  nature's  God,  it 
will  not  seem  out  of  place  that  we  should  pause  a  moment 
before  the  gate  of  this  august  Palace,  and  seek  a  yet  nearer 
approach  to  the  Great  King. 

We  have  essayed  to  survey  at  some  length  the  outer  Tem- 
ple of  the  Majesty  of  heaven,  and  having  treated  of  God,  physi- 
cally, in  his  acts  and  relations  to  the  material  Universe  in  all 
its  endless  details  and  varieties ;  and  having  attempted,  but 
in  vain,  to  sound  the  depths  of  his  mental  resources — the  pro- 
found recesses  of  the  Divine  Mind — to  inquire  what  must  be 
the  thoughts,  the  mental  conceptions,  the  ideas  of  the  -  Being 
who  has  reared,  and  who  controls  and  inhabits  this  august 
Temple,  will  not  the  more  reflecting  reader  fain  advance  with 
me  yet  another  step  ?  But  let  him  put  off  his  shoes  from  off"  his 
feet ;  for  we  now  propose  to  look  into  the  audience  chamber  of 
the  King,  that,  peradventure,  we  may  see  God  who  is  in- 
visible. 

When  we  have  become  interested  in  an  author  of  rare  men- 
15* 


346  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

tal  powers,  or  in  an  artist  of  extraordinary  skill,  we  wish  to 
know  more  of  his  private  character — of  his  moral  condition — 
how  he  wears  his  honors,  how  he  uses  his  influence — what  mo- 
tives urge  him  to  action,  and  how  he  enjoys  the  works  of  his 
hands — whether  he  be  happy.  We  propose,  reverently,  to 
institute  such  an  inquiry  in  relation  to  God. 

.Having  created  all  things  and  set  the  great  machine  in 
motion — having  given  it  laws  and  made  all  things  move  in 
obedience  to  the  ordained  order,  does  God,  as  the  ancient  phi- 
losophers taught,  wrap  himself  up  in  the  morose  abstraction  of 
his  own  infinity,  in  a  sort  of  inactive  and  solemnly  forbidding 
existence ;  or  does  he  exist  in  a  state  of  perpetual  and  infinite 
enjoyment  ?  Are  we  not  prone  rather  to  clothe  the  Deity  in 
the  sombre  mantle  of  stern  Omnipotence  and  unbending  Justice, 
than  think  of  him  as  a  Being  of  exhaustless  benevolence  and 
of  overflowing  happiness  ?  It  is  a  matter  of  great  practical  in- 
terest that  we  should  have  correct  views  here. 

Man's  unhappiness  arises  from  his  imperfection.  Lack  of 
wisdom  always  to  devise  the  best  measures — lack  of  power  to 
execute  them — lack  of  benevolence,  or  of  happiness  exemplified 
— lack  of  an  abiding  and  all-controlling  consciousness  of  recti- 
tude, which  alone  can  exempt  from  regret  and  remorse,  and 
give  that  dignity  of  moral  character  which  is  essential  to  hap- 
piness— lack  of  foreknowledge  which  can  foresee  future  evil, 
and  of  power  to  forestall  it — lack  of  ability  so  to  control  all 
events  relative  to  himself  and  others,  as  to  ward  off  all  misfor- 
tune and  disaster — and  lack  of  such  moral  character  and  moral 
feelings  as  yield  nothing  but  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteous- 
ness ; — these  are  some  of  the  things  which  mar,  if  not  destroy, 
the  happiness  of  man.  These  are  all  the  result  of  imperfec- 


THE   HAPPINESS    OF   GOD.  347 

>v 

tion.  But  God  is  perfect,  and  consequently  no  possible  event 
can  mar  his  happiness. 

We  may  therefore  adduce  the  perfections  of  God  as  the  un- 
mistakable vouchers  for  his  infinite  happiness. 

God  is  omnipotent.  He  can  consequently  do  whatever  he 
will.  He  can  execute  all  his  plans.  There  is  no  power  in  the 
universe  that  can  frustrate  a  single  purpose  of  his.  He  speaks, 
and  it  is  done;  he  commands,  and  all  stands  fast.  God  is 
consequently  raised  altogether  above  the  least  feeling  of  weak- 
ness or  inability.  To  will  with  him  is  to  do.  This  conscious- 
ness of  Omnipotence  must  be  a  perpetual  source  of  happiness. 
A  vast  deal  of  human  misery  arises  from  a  consciousness  of  our 
weakness — our  inability  to  do  what  we  would.  It  is  this 
which  makes  the  future  of  man  such  a  dark  and  oftentimes 
painful  uncertainty.  We  can  neither  foresee  a  single  future 
event,  however  insignificant  it  may  be,  nor  can  we  by  any  pos- 
sible means  secure  its  existence.  We  are  frustrated,  plagued, 
disappointed.  We  may  neither  have  the  power  to  ward  off  the 
evil  that  is  before  us,  nor  to  secure  a  future  good  which  we 
may  desire.  No  such  source  of  discomfort  can  disturb  the 
Eternal  Mind.  Not  a  future  event  can  take  place  without  his 
choice — not  one  that  shalL  frustrate  a  single  purpose  of  his,  or 
in  the  least  militate  against  his  infinite  felicity. 

Again,  the  exercise  of  power,  where  there  is  the  perfect 
consciousness  that  it  is  done  in  infinite  righteousness  and  be- 
nevolence, is  a  perpetual  source  of  happiness.  Man  takes 
delight  in  the  workmanship  of  his  own  hands,  and  in  none 
does  he  feel  so  high  a  pleasure  as  where  there  is  the  exercise 
of  great  power  or  skill.  What,  then,  must  be  the  felicity  of 
God,  as  he  surveys  this  vast  and  boundless  universe,  the  prod- 


348          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

uct  of  his  power  and  skill.  What  power  to  create  simply  the 
ball  on  which  we  have  our  habitation — to  balance  it  in  mid- 
space — to  fix  it  in  its  proper  orbit — to  send  it  revolving  with 
such  tremendous  velocity  about  the  sun — to  set  it  wheeling  on 
its  axis — to  give  it  its  relative  position  in  respect  to  all  the 
other  heavenly  bodies !  But  if  we  contemplate  God,  not  only 
as  the  Creator  of  this  comparatively  insignificant  ball,  but  the 
Creator  of  the  sun,  a  body  whose  solid  contents  exceed  those 
of  the  earth  by  near  a  million  and  a  half  of  times  (1,435,000), 
and  all  the  bodies  which  compose  the  solar  system ;  and  not 
only  the  Creator  of  these,  but  of  the  millions  and  millions  of 
suns  and  their  respective  systems,  which  sparkle  in  boundless 
space,  the  marvel  is  infinitely  enhanced. 

Now  it  is  quite  impossible  for  the  most  expansive  human 
intellect  to  get  any  thing  like  an  adequate  conception  of  the 
power  which  is  employed  in  the  creation,  and  the  subsequent 
preservation,  and  in  the  working  of  the  great  machinery  of  the 
universe.  The  relative  positions  of  these  vast  and  endlessly 
numerous  bodies ;  their  harmony  one  .with  another ;  their  order 
and  motions,  indicate  a  power  altogether  past  all  our  concep- 
tions. But  God  is  feelingly  alive  to  a  consciousness  of  exerting 
such  a  power  ;  and  this  consciousness  cannot  be  otherwise  than 
a  source  of  infinite  and  eternal  felicity.  The  whole  moves  on, 
accomplishing  an  infinitely  benevolent  end,  at  his  fiat ;  the 
whole  would  stand  still  at  his  command. 

Were  we  to  stop  here,  and  contemplate  God  only  as  putting 
forth  a  power  sufficient  to  create  and  govern  the  material  uni- 
verse only,  we  cannot  fail  to  discover  a  foundation  for  a  very 
high  order  and  degree  of  happiness ;  but  the  slightest  glance 
into  the  mental  and  moral  world  will  exhibit  the  exercise  of  a 


GOD'S   DOMINION   OVER   MIND.  349 

power  far  surpassing  any  thing  we  have  yet  seen,  and  which 
must  give  a  proportionally  higher  order  and  degree  of  happi- 
ness. Man,  by  his  power  and  diligence,  may  raise  up  valleys, 
remove  mountains  or  force  his  passage  through  them ;  he  may 
bridge  oceans ;  compel  into  his  service  the  winds,  the  fire  and 
water,  and  make  the  swift-winged  lightning  his  messenger. 
But  when  he  comes  in  the  world  of  mind  he  seems  shorn  of 
his  power.  He  can  exert  no  power  beyond  himself — and  not 
much  even  there.  He  can  exercise  no  direct  control  over  the  mind 
of  his  neighbor — cannot  change  a  single  volition  or  purpose. 
He  may  present  motives  which  may  become  influential,  or  he 
may  employ  authority  which  shall  change  one's  outward  conduct. 
But  he  cannot  of  himself  control  mind.  To  convert  a  man 
from  the  error  of  his  ways,  is  as  completely  beyond  the  power  of 
man  as  to  create  a  world.  But  God  turneth  the  heart  of  man 
as  the  rivers  of  water  are  turned.  Quick  and  easy  as  thought 
he  can  make  the  vilest  infidel  the  holiest  angel.  Conceive  of 
God  exercising  a  complete  control  over  the  whole  universe  of 
mind,  human  and  angelic,  whether  they  be  principalities  or 
powers,  kingdoms  or  dominions.  Samuel  and  Job,  Isaiah  and 
Paul,  were  what  they  were  because  God  made  them  so.  Pharaoh 
and  Ahab  were  what  they  were  because  God  left  them  to  a 
reprobate  mind.  Mind — spirit,  is  peculiarly  the  dominion  of 
God — the  empire  where  his  great  power  is  manifested. 

Here,  then,  we  find  the  basis  of  a  still  higher  order  and  a 
greater  degree  of  the  Divine  blessedness.  He  is  over  all,  God 
blessed  forever. 

The  Divine  knowledge,  wisdom,  skill,  affords  us  a  further 
assurance  of  the  blessedness  or  felicity  of  God.  There  is 
pleasure  in  devising — especially  if  we  may  foresee  that  the 


350  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

scheme  devised  will  certainly  be  executed  and  its  end  realized 
• — that  the  means  to  bring  it  about  are  suitable  and  adequate. 
But  man's  pleasure  is  sadly  curtailed,  from  the  fact  that  he 
can  neither  foresee  nor  secure  the  result.  There  may  be  a 
failure  from  a  thousand  unforeseen  incidents,  arising  from  a 
want  of  his  own  ability,  knowledge  and  wisdom,  and  from  a 
thousand  circumstances  over  which  he  can  have  no  control. 

But  nothing  of  the  kind  can  happen  with  God.  He  sees 
the  end  from  the  beginning.  No  retarding  or  frustrating  inci- 
dents can  occur — no  uncontrollable  circumstances  ever  threaten 
a  failure.  He  Jcnoivs  that  every  event,  every  means  needful 
to  bring  about  a  given  end  will  certainly  be  present.  He  sees 
them — they  are  all  in  his  mind  as  present.  No  act  of  omnipo- 
tence could  make  them  more  certain.  Consequently  there  can 
be  nothing  in  the  mind  of  God  like  a  fear  of  disappointment — 
a  solicitude  for  the  future — dread  of  disaster,  the  but  too  fruit- 
ful sources  of  human  misery.  The  whole  illimitable  field  of 
the  future,  with  every  possible  event  and  fact,  is  as  completely 
before  the  mind  of  God  as  the  present  is. 

Again,  how  infinitely  must  God  enjoy  the  operations  of  the 
wisdom  and  skill  which  he  constantly  sees  displayed  in  his  works. 
The  universe  is  an  infinitely  vast,  complicated,  and  an  endless- 
ly variegated  system.  The  mightiest  as  well  as  the  minutest  ob- 
ject, and  the  mightiest  and  the  minutest  movement,  are  all  tend- 
ing to  one  and  the  same  great  end.  Yet  this  end  is  to  be  at- 
tained by  the  controlling  to  that  purpose  of  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand  events — and  many  of  these  oftentimes  seeming 
to  act  in  a  totally  adverse  direction.  Light  and  darkness — 
order  and  disorder — truth  and  error — friends  and  foes,  are  all 
to  be  made  to  execute  the  plan.  And  not  only  this,  but  while 
the  great  and  final  scheme  is  maturing  and  hastening  to  its 


THE   INDEPENDENCE    OF    GOD.  351 

sure  and  final  issue,  an  infinite  number  of  subordinate  ends  are 
being  answered.  The  preservation  of  the  minutest  insect,  the 
conversion  of  a  soul ;  the  growth  of  a  plant,  the  rise  and  fall 
of  a  kingdom ;  the  fall  of  a  sparrow,  the  growth  in  holiness 
and  glory  of  an  Archangel,  are  all  contemplated  in  the  Divine 
Mind,  and  every  needed  provision  and  instrumentality  care- 
fully secured. 

Now  contemplate,  if  you  can,  the  Divine  Mind,  as  every- 
where present,  as  everywhere  active,  witnessing  the  successful 
operation  of  all  his  plans,  the  successful  fulfilment  of  all  his 
purposes — means  accomplishing  precisely  the  end  designed 
without  a  single  failure,  and  tell  me  if  such  a  contemplation  on 
the  part  of  Deity  must  not  yield  to  the  Divine  Mind  a  supreme 
felicity  I 

The  Independence  of  God  suggests  another  source  of  his 
happiness. 

Man  is  dependent ;  and  though  much  of  his  happiness 
arise  from  his  dependence,  yet  true  it  is  that  his  dependence 
is  the  source  of  much  misery.  He  can  do  nothing  of  himself. 
He  is  of  yesterday  and  knows  nothing.  What  he  begins  he  is 
never  certain  of  finishing ;  what  he  wishes  he  is  never  certain 
of  obtaining.  His  breath  is  in  his  nostrils — and  yet  if  death 
do  not  cut  short  his  efforts  as  soon  as  begun  or  before  he  real- 
ize a  desired  result,  a  thousand  unforeseen  incidents  may  ren- 
der all  his  exertions  abortive,  and  consequently  he  is  little  else 
than  the  creature  of  a  painful  uncertainty.  But  no  such  uncer- 
tainty can  mar  the  happiness  of  God.  He  is  dependent  on  no 
accident,  circumstance  or  event,  that  can  frustrate  a  single  pur- 
pose or  hinder  a  single  desire.  He  doeth  all  his  will,  and  none 
can  hinder  him,  or  say,  what  doest  thou  ?  Omniscient,  all  future 


352  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GKEAT   KING. 

events  and  things  are  present  to  his  mind,  and  all  have  been 
ordered  by  his  choice ;  and  infinitely  wise,  one  event  can  by 
no  possibility  interfere  to  hinder  another ;  and  omnipotent,  no 
created  being — no  being  in  the  universe  can  withstand  his  will 
or  frustrate  his  purposes.  He  can  will  what  he  pleases,  he 
can  do  what  he  wills,  and,  of  course,,  can  never  be  subject  to 
the  discomfort  and  reaction  of  disappointment  and  failure. 

And  we  may  argue  the  happiness  of  God  from  his  JBenevo- 
lence. 

God  is  love.  All  the  attributes  of  God  seem  but  the  differ- 
ent manifestations  of  his  Benevolence.  And  we  know  that  the 
highest  happiness  a  rational  being  can  enjoy,  and  perhaps  the 
only  true  happiness  he  may  experience,  is  from  the  exercise  of 
his  benevolent  affections.  The  exercise  of  malevolent  feelings 
cannot  be  otherwise  than  misery.  True,  elevated,  rational, 
heavenly  happiness,  may  be  defined  to  be  Benevolence,  or  a 
love  to  make  others  happy. 

If,  then,  God  is  infinitely  benevolent,  he  must  be  infinitely 
happy.  And  that  he  is  infinitely  benevolent  we  have  ample 
testimony  in  all  his  works  of  creation  and  Providence.  We 
cannot  mistake  that  every  thing,  as  it  came  from  the  hand  of 
God,  bears  marks  of  the  same  benevolent  design.  That  sin 
has,  as  far  as  possible,  perverted  every  thing  to  a  malevolent 
purpose,  is  equally  true.  But  this  does  not  obliterate  the 
original  and  benevolent  design  of  the  Creator.  Look  at  the 
structure  of  man ;  not  a  muscle,  nerve  or  joint — not  a  faculty 
of  the  mind — not  a  passion,  feeling  or  affection  of  the  heart, 
which  does  not,  if  unperverted,  minister  directly  and  effectually 
to  his  happiness.  Or  look,  if  you  please,  at  the  whole  system 
of  nature,  and,  notwithstanding  the  disorder  into  which  sin  has 


ADAPTATIONS   AND    COMPENSATIONS.  353 

thrown  it — a  disorder  like  that  into  which  a  beautiful  city  is 
thrown  when  almost  overwhelmed  by  an  avalanche  of  burning 
lava — you  will  everywhere  discover  in  its  arrangements  the 
marks  of  a  benevolent  Mind.  There  may  be  discovered  run- 
ning through  the  whole  a  design  to  make  all  creatures  happy. 
What  provisions  are  made  for  the  food  and  protection  of  all 
God's  creatures — one  made  to  administer  to  another,  and  the 
earth  and  its  fittings  up  made  to  minister  to  all.  What  adap- 
tations are  everywhere  discoverable — every  being  adapted  to 
its  element,  its  food  and  its  mode  of  being !  And  what  a  beau- 
ful  system  of  compensations  runs  through  the  whole  system  of 
nature,  so  that  if  the  happiness  of  one  be  invaded  on  the  one 
side,  it  is  compensated,  with  usury  perhaps,  on  the  other !  Has 
sin  inflicted  on  man  diseases,  woes  and  innumerable  burdens  ? 
Nature  is  made  to  furnish  reliefs — remedies — antidotes  to 
poisons,  and  a  healing  balm  for  every  wound. 

What  unalloyed  satisfaction  it  may  give  the  Divine  Mind 
to  contemplate  such  a  system !  A  healing  stream  gushes  out 
from  every  rock  ;  a  rose  overtops  every  thorn.  Ten  thousand 
precious  plants  force  their  way  through  the  sterile,  stony 
ground,  and  often  cover  its  deformities.  The  consciousness  of 
being  the  Author  of  diffusing  so  much  happiness  to  his  crea- 
tures is  infinite  happiness  in  the  Author  himself. 

" It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive" — In  uttering 
this  saying  our  Saviour  revealed  to  us  the  Divine  philosophy 
of  Benevolence,  or,  in  other  words,  the  most  effectual  way  to 
be  happy.  Is  God  the  great  communicator?  "giving  life  and 
breath  and  all  things — filling  our  hearts  with  food  and  glad- 
ness?" Is  he  the  most  benevolent  Being  in  the  universe? 
He  is,  then,  the  happiest  Being.  Is  he  infinitely  benevolent  ? 


354          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

He  is,  then,  infinitely  happy.  And  not  only  is  the  exercise  of 
the  benevolent  affections  the  source  of  immeasurable  happi- 
ness, but  the  mere  possession  of  them — the  consciousness  of 
their  existence  in  the  soul,  is  a  continual  fountain  of  happiness, 
a  well  of  water  springing  up  unto  eternal  life.  God,  then, 
must  be  infinitely  and  eternally  happy. 

Another  source  of  the  Divine  complacency  is  his  integrity, 
or  perfect  moral  rectitude.  Consciousness  of  moral  defection  is 
a  fruitful  source  of  human  misery.  The  good  man  weeps  in 
secret  places  over  his  indwelling  sin.  He  laments  his  short- 
comings in  duty,  his  rebellions,  his  sins  of  word,  deed  and 
thought.  He  is  feelingly  alive"  to  his  want  of  moral  rectitude. 
And  the  wicked  man,  too,  if  he  reflect,  is  the  subject  of  regret, 
vexation,  and  oftentimes  of  the  keenest  remorse.  If  weighed 
in  the  balance  of  even  a  human  standard  of  virtue,  he  is  found 
wanting.  But  no  such  thing  can  mar  the  happiness  of  God. 
He  can  look  back  on  a  whole  past  eternity,  and  not  a  stain  can 
be  discovered  on  his  character ;  not  an  act  has  he  put  forth  but 
in  the  strictest  integrity ;  not  a  moral  blot  does  he  see  on  the 
face  of  all  his  works  ;  he  has  never  breathed  a  thought  or  in- 
dulged a  feeling  which  would  not  bear  the  light  of  eternity,  or 
the  gaze  of  ten  thousand  angels.  In  all  the  plannings  of  his 
wisdom,  in  all  the  acts  of  his  benevolence,  in  all  the  executions 
of  his  power,  he  has  never  made  a  misstep ;  nothing  he  would 
undo ;  nothing  he  can  regret. 

Eemorse,  therefore — the  bane  of  human  happiness,  the 
poisoner  of  human  joys,  the  unquenchable  fire  in  the  godless 
soul — can,  by  no  possibility,  find  a  place  in  the  Divine  Mind. 
And  as  God  can  have  no  regrets,  no  remorse  for  the  past,  so 
he  can  have  no  solicitude  for  the  future. 


DIVINE   JUSTICE  AND   MERCY.  355 

Again,  we  infer  the  same  thing  from  the  Divine  Justice. 
Justice  is  a  disposition  to  do  right  to  all,  to  do  wrong  to  none, 
to  render  to  all  their  due.  No  small  share  of  human  misery 
arises  from  injustice.  The  consciousness  of  inflicting  wrong, 
or  withholding  good  where  it  is  due,  is  as  the  lash  of  the 
scorpion,  stinging  the  soul  in  its  innermost  vitality.  And 
what  wretchedness  does  the  doing  of  injustice  inflict  on  the 
sufferers  ? — what  heart-burnings,  ranklings  and  misery  ! 

What  a  holy  complacency,  what  unadulterated  felicity  God 
must  enjoy  in  the  possession  of  such  an  attribute ;  and,  if  pos- 
sible, how  much  more  in  the  exercise  of  it !  Although  God  has 
been  exercising  this  attribute  from  all  eternity;  been  deciding 
on  the  merits  and  demerits  of  his  creatures  ;  rewarding  and 
punishing  in  all  varieties  of  cases,  millions  without  number, 
not  a  being  in  all  the  universe  can  rise  up  and  say  God  has 
done  him  a  wrong,  has  withheld  good  when  due,  or  inflicted  a 
penalty  not  due.  He  can  challenge  every  creature  in  heaven, 
earth  and  hell,  and  none  can  accuse  him  of  a  single  wrong. 

And  Mercy,  too,  is  an  attribute  of  the  Divine  character — 
the  disposition  in  God  to  bestow  good  on  the  miserable,  even 
on  the  ill-deserving.  There  is  not  a  purer,  a  higher,  a  holier 
happiness  on  earth  than  that  which  does  good  to  the  miserable, 
and  forgives  and  blesses  the  undeserving.  But  all  this  God 
does  constantly  and  in  an  infinitely  higher  sense  than  it  is 
possible  for  man  to  do.  Heaven  is  daily  filling  up  with  the 
subjects  of  God's  mercy.  The  song  of  redeeming  love  is  every 
hour  swelling  louder  and  louder ;  the  ocean  of  eternal  bliss  is 
widening  and  deepening  with  the  accession  of  every  soul  that 
mercy  brings  to  heaven.  God  sees  it  all,  knows  it  all,  and 
recognizes  it  all  as  the  fruit  of  his  own  mercy. 


356  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GKEAT   KING. 

Another  moral  attribute  of  God,  which  cannot  fail  to  yield 
a  glorious  harvest  of  blessedness  to  the  Divine  Mind,  is  his 
Truth.  By  this  attribute  we  mean  God's  perfect  veracity — the 
accordance  of  all  his  declarations  with  the  reality  of  things — 
his  faithfulness  in  fulfilling  his  promises,  executing  his  threat- 
enings  and  accomplishing  his  predictions.  God,  who  looks 
from  eternity  and  to  eternity,  cannot  discover  a  single  failure 
of  all  he  has  said,  of  all  he  has  promised  and  engaged  to  be 
fulfilled. 

The  contemplation  of  such  a  moral  character  must  be  a 
source  of  infinite  felicity.  As  far  as  we  can  comprehend  and 
appreciate  such  a  character,  the  contemplation  of  it  is  perfectly 
delightful.  It  is  a  moral  beauty  on  which  the  eye  of  the  mind 
delights  to  dwell.  But  to  God,  who  has  an  eye  that  can  com- 
prehend such  a  character  in  all  its  beauty  and  loveliness,  and  a 
heart  that  can  perfectly  appreciate  it,  how  infinitely  delightful 
must  be  the  contemplation  ! 

But  we  stop  not  here.  The  Divine  complacency  is  not  con- 
fined to  the  subjective  contemplation  of  the  divine  character 
and  attributes.  The  happiness  God  derives  from  the  contem- 
plation of  his  works  is  none  the  less  worthy  of  our  considera- 
tion. When  God  had  finished  the  work  of  creation,  he  is 
represented  as  surveying  the  whole,  and  pronouncing  all  to  be 
u  good."  He  was  well  pleased  with  the  workmanship  of  his 
hands.  The  angels,  the  whole  heavenly  host,  who  understood 
vastly  less  of  the  wisdom  and  power  and  beauty  displayed  in 
all  these  works  than  God  did,  and  consequently  had  vastly  less 
reason  for  their  admiration,  greatly  rejoiced  in  this  new  acces- 
sion to  the  Divine  workmanship.  "  The  morning  stars  sang 
together,  and  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy."  God  is  very 


GOD   VIEWING   HIS   WOEKS.  357 

frequently  represented  as  taking  delight  in  his  works,  as  re- 
joicing in  the  works  of  his  hands.  And  more  frequently  are 
the  works  of  God  made  the  theme  of  praise  by  angels  and  the 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect. 

They  that  sing  the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb,  say : 
"  Marvellous  are  thy  works,  Lord  God  Almighty."  The  con- 
templation of  God's  works — the  admiration  of  the  wisdom, 
power  and  goodness  therein  displayed — the  exhibition  which 
they  afford  of  the  character  of  God,  no  doubt  afford  a  very 
essential  ingredient  in  future  bliss.  God  has  more  extensively 
made  himself  known  by  his  works  than  by  his  word. 

The  admiration  of  his  works  by  his  creatures,  and  the  high 
strains  of  adoration  which  rise  therefrom,  are  no  doubt  a  con- 
tinual source  of  blessedness  to  the  Divine  Mind. 

That  God  derives  a  high  pleasure  from  the  contemplation 
of  his  works  appears  therefore  from  the  fact  that  all  these 
works  are  represented  as  praising  him :  "  Praise  ye  him,  sun 
and  moon :  praise  him,  all  ye  stars  of  light.  Praise  him,  ye 
heaven  of  heavens,  and  ye  waters  that  be  above  the  heavens. 
Let  them  praise  the  name  of  the  Lord :  for  he  commanded  and 
they  were  created.  He  hath  also  established  them  forever  and 
ever :  he  hath  made  a  decree  which  they  shall  not  pass.  Praise 
the  Lord  from  the  earth,  ye  dragons,  and  all  deeps ;  fire  and 
hail ;  snow  and  vapors ;  stormy  wind  fulfilling  his  word  ;  moun- 
tains, and  all  hills ;  fruitful  trees,  and  all  cedars ;  beasts,  and 
all  cattle  ;  creeping  things  and  flying  fowl." — Ps.  cxlviii.  3-10. 

All  nature  is  represented  as  vocal  with  the  praises  of  God. 
Hills,  rocks  and  woods ;  all  creeping  things — the  starry 
heavens — all  that  lives  and  breathes  and  is,  raise  the  voice 
of  praise. 


358          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

Here  is  more  than  an  intimation  of  God's  happiness  in  his 
works.  If  there  be  in  all  nature  a  foundation  for  universal 
praise,  it  is  because  the  Power,  Wisdom  and  Goodness  of  God 
as  displayed  in  these  works,  merit  such  a  praise,  and  God  as 
the  Being  to  whom  these  attributes  belong,  cannot  but  take 
delight  in  the  manifestations  of  these  attributes. 

As  God  surveys  his  works,  there  is  perhaps  nothing  so 
palpably  obvious  as  the  infinite  amount  of  happiness  which  is 
secured  in  those  works.  We  sometimes  speak  of  our  world  as 
a  miserable  world;  and  no  doubt  it  is  the  most  miserable 
world,  but  one,  in  all  the  Universe.  Yet  in  this  rebellious, 
sinful,  miserable  world  of  ours,  misery  is  the  exception,  and 
not  the  rule.  Except  in  man,  who  is  doomed  here  to  suffer 
the  penalty  of  his  apostasy  from  God,  there  is  comparatively 
very  little  misery ;  and  this  comes  as  a  consequence  of  man's 
transgression.  "  The  creature  was  made  subject  to  vanity  not 
willingly,"  but  because  of  man's  apostasy.  There  is  much 
misery,  but  there  is,  despite  the  curse,  much  happiness. 
There  are  some  clouds,  yet  there  is  more  sunshine ;  some 
storms,  yet  on  that  account  more  fertility  and  beauty ;  some 
poisons,  yet  more  sweets ;  some  tears,  yet  more  smiles ;  some 
sickness,  yet  more  health ;  some  worlds  (we  know  of  but  this 
one)  have  apostatized  and  drawn  down  upon  themselves  the 
malediction  of  heaven,  and  turned  the  sweet  waters  of  life  into 
bitterness  and  stagnation,  while  millions  of  other  worlds  are 
shining  in  all  the  fresh  beauty  of  their  first  creation,  ever  re- 
galing in  the  full  sunshine  of  their  Creator's  face.  Sighs, 
groans,  tears,  have  never  been  known  there ;  vexations,  corrod- 
ing cares  and  disappointments  have  never  ruffled  a  single 
breast.  Thorns  and  briars — natural  and  moral  evils,  have 


MOKE   HAPPINESS   THAN  MISERY.  359 

found  no  place  there.  All  is  peace  and  purity ;  good  will  to 
their  uncontaminated  tenants,  and  glory  to  God  in  the  highest. 

As  God  surveys  the  vast  empire  of  his  creation,  he  sees 
but  comparatively  a  little  spot  which  is  not  pervaded  with  hap- 
piness. Where  one  groan  reaches  his  ear  and  calls  down  his 
kindly  interposing  pity,  ten  thousand  anthems  of  joy  ascend 
from  as  many  happy  worlds,  and  swell,  as  they  approach 
the  eternal  throne,  into  one  grand  diapason  of  praise  to  Him 
who  created  them  to  be  happy.  And  what  can  give  to  an  in- 
finitely benevolent  mind  a  purer  and  higher  bliss  than  the 
existence  in  his  creatures  of  such  an  amount  of  happiness  ?  In 
his  benevolent  purpose,  God  devised  a  scheme  of  creation  with 
the  design  that  happiness  should  pervade  the  whole ;  and  it 
cannot  fail  to  convey  delight  to  the  Divine  Mind  to  see  his 
plan  without  a  single  unpermitted  failure  realized — to  see  the 
teeming  millions  of  unnumbered  worlds,  rational  and  irra- 
tional, animate  and  inanimate,  rejoicing  in  the  light  of  their 
Creator's  face. 

A  company  of  wretched  captives  are  passing  by.  Separat- 
ed from  their  families,  reduced  to  bondage,  destitute  and 
miserable,  they  are  destined  to  a  fate  more  cruel  than  death. 
A  rich  and  benevolent  individual  comes  forward,  ransoms 
them  from  their  bondage,  provides  them  food,  apparel  and 
habitation ;  restores  them  to  their  respective  families,  gives 
them  some  rich  acres  to  cultivate,  and  in  a  few  years  sees  them 
an  industrious,  prosperous  and  happy  community.  And  he 
knows  that  under  God,  he  has  done  it  all.  Will  he  not  sur- 
vey the  whole  with  delight  ?  Will  he  not  love  again  and 
again  to  ponder  on  the  happiness  which  has  originated  and 
been  fostered  by  his  own  hand  ?  And  how  much  more  God, 


360  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

who  sees  all  the  happiness  in  the  universe  to  be  originated 
and  to  be  every  moment  nourished  by  himself? 

Should  it  be  objected  that,  if  the  happiness  of  God  consists 
either  in  producing  or  witnessing  the  happiness  of  his  crea- 
tures, the  time  must  have  been  when  God  was  not  perfectly 
happy;  in  answer,  I  may  say  that  all  duration  is  equally 
present  with  God.  The  past  and  the  future  are  equally  before 
his  mind  as  the  present ;  and  all  the  creatures  he  has  made 
or  shall  make  were  present  realities  to  his  mind  from  eternity, 
and  equally  capable  of  yielding  delight. 

And  what  again  can  be  a  surer  index  of  the  happiness  of 
God,  than  that  he  should  be  the  author  of  so  much  happiness 
in  his  creatures?  Would  happiness  be  so  distinguishing  a 
feature  in  God's  creation  if  there  were  not  a  counterpart 
equally  distinguishing  in  the  Divine  Mind  ? 

Again,  the  contemplation  of  his  whole  works  as  one  grand 
system,  must  convey  to  the  mind  of  the  Eternal  a  still  higher 
happiness.  The  author  of  some  great  and  noble  piece  of  ma- 
chinery might  be  highly  pleased  to  witness  the  successful 
operation  of  different  parts  of  his  workmanship ;  but  not  till 
he  should  take  cognizance  of  the  whole,  as  one  entire  piece,  the 
individual  parts  all  working  in  harmony  and  producing  the 
grand  and  final  result,  would  he  realize  the  pleasure  which 
properly  belonged  to  him. 

This  brings  me  to  remark,  as  the  last  source  of  proof  which 
I  shall  present, 

That  the  contemplation  of  the  final  and  glorious  end  of 
all  things,  must  be  a  never-failing  source  of  blessedness  to 
God.  This  final  end  is  no  doubt  the  glory  of  God.  But  this 
end  is  to  be  attained  through  the  sanctification,  the  salvation 


THE  FINAL  END   OF   CREATION.  361 

ana  eternal  beatification  of  a  countless  multitude  of  intelligent 
creatures. 

It  is  the  happiness  of  the  Divine  Mind  that  he  looks 
through  present  clouds  to  eternal  day  beyond — that  he  can 
with  a  glance  trace  up  a  chain  of  events  reaching  from  the 
morn  of  creation  to  the  end  of  time,  or  from  eternity  to  eter- 
nity, and  see  the  result.  Changes,  revolutions,  convulsions, 
may  betide,  and  seem  to  be  working  out  a  result  entirely  con- 
trary to  the  one  desired ;  yet  God  sees,  and  he  knows,  that 
the  desired  result  will,  in  due  time,  follow.  He  can  have  no 
solicitude  for  the  result.  There  can  be  no  failure  of  the  instru- 
mentalities and  agencies  to  bring  it  about,  and  no  possible  in- 
terference of  influences  to  retard  or  hinder  its  accomplishment 
at  the  proper  time. 

The  grand  and  final  result  of  all  things  consists  in  the 
glory  of  God  through  the  salvation  of  his  creatures.  Conscious 
that  he  is  himself  the  most  excellent  of  all  beings,  and  that 
all  beings  are  dependent  on  him  for  all  they  are  and  shall  be, 
he  well  knows  that  in  his  glory  is  bound  up  the  glory  and 
happiness  of  all  his  creatures.  If  then  God  take  pleasure  in 
the  happiness  of  his  creatures,  he  must  first  of  all  take  pleasure 
in  his  own  glory.  So  that  when  God  makes  the  chief  end 
of  all  things  his  own  glory,  he  is  not  actuated  by  the  sordid 
passion  which  we  call  selfishness,  but  by  a  motive  the  most  be- 
nevolent possible.  For  by  so  doing  he  the  most  effectually  ad- 
vances the  happiness  of  the  whole  universe. 

That  God's  making  the  chief  end  of  all  things  his  own 
glory  is  not  selfishness,  but   benevolence,   appears  the  more 
evident  from  the  fact  that  he  seeks  his  own  greatest  glory  in 
the  happiness  of  his  creatures. 
16 


362  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

The  happiness  of  all  God's  creatures,  then,  is  God's  happi- 
ness. He  is  the  author  of  it  all — to  be  glorified  in  it  is  the 
grand  and  final  result  of  all  his  works  of  creation  and  prov- 
idence. 

Contemplate  God,  then,  as  having  completed  the  drama  of 
^Redemption,  and  having  arrived,  too,  at  moral  results  as 
glorious  in  respect  to  other  worlds.  With  what  infinite  com- 
placency must  he  then  survey  the  whole !  With  what  su- 
preme felicity  must  he  recognize  the  whole  as  the  result  -of  his 
own  wisdom  and  the  fruit  of  his  own  goodness  !  A  great  mul- 
titude which  no  man  can  number  are  supremely  happy.  They 
are  rapt  and  burn  in  the  love  of  God.  Their  overflowing 
souls  give  expression,  in  eternal  praise,  to  the  Divine  felicity. 

And  they  have  but  just  begun  to  be  happy.  The  infinite 
mind  of  God  stretches  down  through  a  whole  coming  eternity, 
and  sees  them  expanding  in  happiness  as  eternity  rolls  on. 
They  are  now  fixed  in  eternal  blessedness.  Sin  and  sighing 
and  sorrow  are  all  done  away,  all  tears  are  wiped  from  their 
eyes.  They  shall  know  pain  and  disappointment  no  more. 
No  one  can  pluck  their  harps  from  their  hands,  nor  tear  their 
crowns  from  their  heads.  They  are  forever  blessed,  forever 
happy.  And  God  has  done  it  all.  The  happiness  is  his. 
He  is  over  all,  and  in  all,  God  blessed  forever. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

God  in  all  and  over  all,  giving  life  and  breath  and  all  things — Inspired  descriptions  of 
God— How  such  views  of  God  should  affect  us. 

WE  have  ranged  through  a  broad  field  in  search  of  the  un- 
searchable God.  We  have  seen  him  in  every  thing ;  in  the 
heights  above  and  in  the  deeps  below  ;  in  the  minutest  of  his 
works,  and  in  the  most  magnificent,  whirling  through  inter- 
minable space  stupendous  worlds,  millions  of  times  larger  than 
our  earth,  and  with  a  care  not  the  less  careful,  guiding  the 
minutest  atom  that  tips  the  wing  of  the  minutest  insect.  We 
have  seen  him  in  the  "  fire  and  the  hail,"  in  the  "  snow  and 
vapors,"  and  in  the  "  stormy  wind  fulfilling  his  word."  We 
have  taken  note  of  his  power,  and  followed  the  footsteps  of  his 
ceaseless  love  "  in  the  mountains  and  all  hills,  in  fruitful  trees 
and  all  cedars ;  beasts,  and  all  cattle,  creeping  things  and  fly- 
ing fowl."  How*  he  rules  among  the  kings  and  princes  of  the 
earth !  among  judges  and  people  !  How  he  controls  and  uses 
as  he  will  all  the  diversities  of  human  gifts  and  talents,  and  all 
the  varied  conditions  of  men !  We  have  seen  God  in  all 
things ;  how  he 

"  Warms  in  the  sun,  refreshes  in  the  breeze ; 

Glows  in  the  stars  and  blossoms  in  the  trees  ; 

Lives  through  all  life,  extends  through  all  extent ; 

Spreads  undivided,  operates  unspent ; 

Breathes  in  our  souls,  informs  our  mortal  part, 

As  full,  as  perfect  in  a  hair  as  heart." 


364  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

And  having  traversed  the  boundless  fields  of  ether,  and 
everywhere  wondered  to  behold  the  grandeur  and  magnificence 
of  the  works  of  the  Almighty  hand,  and  then  descended 
through  every  grade  of  creature  workmanship  to  the  most 
insignificant  atom  either  animate  or  inanimate,  we  have 
everywhere  discovered  the  same  infinite  skill  and  benevolence. 
And  we  have  attempted  to  retrace  our  steps,  and,  returning 
from  our  wanderings  amidst  the  mazes  of  nature,  to  approach 
to  nature's  God.  We  then  found  ourselves  in  the  presence  of 
the  Great  and  Holy  Being,  whose  thoughts  are  infinite,  who 
ever  rejoices  in  the  workmanship  of  his  own  hands,  and  who  is 
the  Blessed,  the  only  Potentate,  the  King  of  Kings  and  Lord 
of  Lords. 

We  cannot  now  more  appropriately  close  this  volume 
than  by  ranging  ourselves  at  a  stand-point  whence  we  may 
take  a  retrospective  view  of  that  glorious  Being,  glimpses  of 
whose  character  have,  in  the  foregoing  pages,  been  made,  in  a 
great  variety  of  ways,  to  pass  before  us  ;  and  if,  in  this  retro- 
spect, we  shall  be  led  hastily  to  pass  over  ground  already 
traversed,  the  reader  may  not  regret  it. 

But  we  would  rather  here  look  with  the,  eyes  of  another, 
and  not  our  own — with  the  eyes  of  one  inspired — one  who 
sang  of  God,  his  lips  being  touched  with  a  coal  from  the  inner 
sanctuary.  We  will  invoke  to  our  aid  the  sweet  singer  of 
Israel.  The  theme  which  we  have  undertaken  to  illustrate 
was  a  favorite  theme  of  the  royal  poet.  More  especially  did 
he  celebrate  the  wonder-working  hand  of  God  in  the  creation, 
and  the  control  of  the  material  world.  As  an  example  of  this 
I  might  transcribe  the  whole  of  the  104th  Psalm.  I  will 
transcribe  but  a  part  of  it,  and  ask  the  reader  to  reperuse  the 
whole : 


THE   ROYAL   WORSHIPPER.  365 

"  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul.  O  Lord  my  God,  thou  art 
very  great;  thou  art  clothed  with  honor  and  majesty:  who 
coverest  thyself  with  light  as  with  a  garment ;  who  stretchest 
out  the  heavens  like  a  curtain ;  who  layeth  the  beams  of  his 
chambers  in  the  waters  ;  who  maketh  the  clouds  his  chariot ; 
who  walketh  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind ;  who  maketh  his 
angels  spirits  ;  his  ministers  a  flaming  fire  ;  who  laid  the  foun 
dations  of  the  earth  that  it  should  not  be  moved  forever." 

As  the  royal  worshipper  comes  into  the  audience  chamber 
of  the  King,  mark  his  demeanor  there ;  hear  what  he  says. 
The  threshold  crossed,  he  is  awed  into  humility,  melted  into 
love,  and  amazed  amidst  the  glorious  magnificence  of  the  eter- 
nal throne.  Words  cannot  give  utterance  to  his  emotions — 
language  cannot  describe  what  he  sees  and  hears  and  feels. 
We  will  endeavor  to  accompany  him  as  he  comes  to  bow 
down  and  worship  in  the  Palace  of  our  Great  King.  Stand- 
ing yet  without  the  portal,  adoring,  wondering,  loving,  he 
exclaims,  in  childlike  simplicity :  0  Lord  my  God,  thou 
art  very  great!  How  great,  how  glorious,  baffled  all  power  of 
language  to  tell,  and  the  broadest,  loftiest  flights  of  imagina- 
tion to  conceive. 

Though  he  could  neither  himself  comprehend  nor  convey 
to  our  minds  GOD  in  his  eternal  fulness  and  his  indescribable, 
inconceivable  infinitude ;  yet,  by  summoning  to  his  use  the 
choicest  imagery  of  an  earthly  mould — by  laying  hold  of  those 
things  and  circumstances,  which,  in  the  estimation  of  mortals, 
are  representatives  of  the  highest  state  of  honor  and  power, 
riches  and  pleasure,  he  attempts  to  convey  to  our  minds  some 
proximate  idea  of  the  glory  and  power,  the  dominion  and 
majesty,  the  riches  and  goodness  of  the  King  of  Kings.  He 


366  THE  PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

first  adores  him  as  a  mighty  monarch,  (but  what  a  descrip- 
tion !)  clothed  in  robes  of  honor  and  majesty — covered  with  light 
as  with  a  garment — dwelling  in  light — or,  as  light  is  an  emblem 
of  knowledge,  wisdom,  purity  and  felicity,  gloriously  arrayed 
in  these  as  in  a  luminous  cloud,  inaccessible  to  mortal  eyes  by 
reason  of  its.  brightness — who  only  hath  immortality,  dwelling 
in  the  light  which  no  man  can  approach  unto — whom  no  man 
hath  seen,  nor  can  see — enthroned  in  the  midst  of  all  the  glo- 
rious attributes  of  the  Godhead. 

This  glorious  Being,  so  gorgeously  apparelled,  is  next  con- 
templated as  seated  in  his  spacious  palace  or  pavilion,  which 
is  none  other  than  the  wide  expanse  of  the  heavens,  the  broad 
concave  of  the  firmament,  spangled  with  ten  thousand  starry 
gems — worlds  and  suns  adorning  the  vast  canopy  of  this  mon- 
arch of  the  skies.  "  He  stretcheth  out  the  heavens  like  a  cur- 
tain" "  He  layeth  the  beams  of  his  chambers  in  the  waters" 
The  chambers  or  upper  rooms  of  his  mighty  tabernacle  reach 
above  the  clouds — their  beams  are  laid  in  the  waters  that  are 
above  the  firmament. 

We  judge  of  the  greatness  of  a  king  by  the  splendor  of  his 
equipage  and  the  multitude  and  character  of  his  retinue.  His 
horses  and  chariots  of  state,  his  officers  and  servants,  form  a 
criterion  by  which  to  judge  of  the  extent  of  his  dominions,  the 
riches  of  his  empire  and  the  power  of  his  arms.  What,  then, 
from  the  description  before  us,  are  we  to  judge  of  the  power, 
the  greatness  and  majesty  of  God  ?  "  He  maJceth  the  clouds 
his  chariot ;  he  walJceth  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind"  Again, 
"  the  Lord  rideth  on  a  swift  cloud"  And  again,  " He  rideth 
on  the  heaven  of  heavens"  These  are  figurative  expressions 
denoting  the  greatness  and  glory  of  God  and  the  perfect  facil- 


CONCEPTIONS    OF   GOD.  367 

ity  with  which  he  controls  all  events  in  this  lower  world.  But 
who  are  the  ministers  and  attendants — who  compose  the  reti- 
nue of  Him  who  visits  every  portion  of  our  globe,  and  super- 
intends all  its  vast  variety  of  affairs  as  if  he  were  conveyed 
on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  or  who  visits  worlds  innumerable 
as  if  he  rode  on  the  heaven  of  heavens  ?  "  He  maketh  his 
angels  spirits  and  his  ministers  a  flaming  fire"  Or,  to  trans- 
pose and  more  accurately  to  give  the  sense  of  the  original, 
"  who  maketh  the  spirits  his  messengers,  and  a  flaming  fire 
his  ministers."  Angels,  archangels,  spirits — intelligences  of 
all  grades — yea,  the  winds,  the  flaming  fire,  the  earthquake 
and  the  storm,  he  makes  his  ministers  in  the  execution  of  his 
vast  and  various  purposes.  They  fly,  at  his  bidding,  from 
world  to  world,  light  on  the  remotest  globe  that  shines  in  the 
heavens,  and  execute  his  will,  and  return  to  bow  down,  with 
ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  to  adore  and  worship  at  his 
feet. 

Such  did  the  Psalmist  conceive  to  be  the  great  and  awful 
Being  whom  he  attempted  to  worship.  The  more  he  en- 
deavored to  form  a  conception  of  Him,  the  more  he  must 
have  been  constrained  to  cover  his  face  and  repeat  his  first 
exclamation:  "0  Lord  my  God,  thou  art  very  great!" 
His  attempt  is  not  so  much  to  describe  the  Holy  One,  as  to 
exhaust  all  figures,  comparisons  and  hyperboles,  to  show  that 
he  is  above  and  beyond  all  power  of  description.  He 
attempts  to  approximate  towards  some  just  idea  of  the 
majesty  of  Heaven  by  instituting  a  comparison  with  the  royal 
estate  of  some  mighty  earthly  potentate.  The  splendor  of 
his  wardrobe,  the  grandeur  of  his  court,  the  extent  and  riches 
of  his  empire,  his  regal  state  and  vast  retinue,  and  his  mighty 


THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GREAT   KING.  368 

deeds,  are  all  summoned  before  him  ;  yet  all  fall  so  infinitely 
short  of  the  reality  of  the  Divine  Majesty  that  they  are  but 
the  dimmest  representatives,  doing  little  more  than  to  afford 
occasion  to  show  how  infinitely  above  all  earthly  description 
is  the  eternal  God. 

Do  you  speak  of  his  throne  ?  it  is  a  throne  of  righteous- 
ness. Of  his  empire  ?  it  is  boundless,  to  us  infinite — embra- 
cing all  dominions  and  all  worlds.  Do  you  ask  after  his 
crown  ?  ft  is  a  crown  of  glory.  Of  his  apparel  ?  he  is 
robed  in  garments  of  honor  and  majesty.  Of  his  attendants  1 
they  are  angels  of  every  grade — spirits  high  and  holy — mes- 
sengers swifter  than  the  wind,  burning  with  love  more  in- 
tense than  fire — known  as  cherubim  and  seraphim,  princi- 
palities and  powers,  kingdoms  and  dominions.  Or  do  you 
ask  after  his  power  ?  What  a  description  have  we  here ! 
"  He  looketh  on  the  earth  and  it  trembleth,  he  toucheth  the  hills 
and  they  smoke"  He  calls  all  things  into  existence  by  the 
word  of  his  power.  He  says,  '•'•Let  there  be  light,  and  there  is 
light"  He  speaks,  and  it  is  done ;  he  commands,  and  all 
stands  fast.  And  do  you  ask  for  a  further  description  of  his 
glory,  his  greatness  and  his  power  ?  You  have  it  in  language 
more  than  human  in  these  words :  "  He  bowed  the  heavens 
and  came  down ;  and  darkness  was  under  his  feet."  "  His 
glory  covered  the  heavens,  and  the  earth  was  full  of  his  praise. 
And  his  brightness  was  as  the  light."  Such  was  his  appear- 
ance. Now  mark  his  irresistible  and  magnificent  progress  or 
march  :  "  He  rode  upon  a  cherub  and  did  fly ;  yea,  he  did  fly 
upon  the  wings  of  the  wind."  "  He  made  darkness  his  secret 
place :  his  pavilion  round  about  him  were  dark  waters  and 
thick  clouds  of  the  skies."  At  the  brightness  of  his  presence, 


DISCOMFITURE   OF   HIS   ENEMIES.  36 9 

the  thick  clouds  passed  away  or  were  dispersed,  hailstones 
and  fire  of  coals  ;  i.  e.  he  wrappeth  himself  in  darkness,  yet 
commandeth  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness  for  his  people. 
And  what  can  equal  the  description  given  of  his  dreadful 
power  in  the  discomfiture  and  overthrow  of  his  enemies'? 
"  The  Lord  thundered  in  the  heavens,  and  the  Highest  gave 
his  voice,  hailstones  and  coals  of  fire ;  yea,  he  sent  out  his 
arrows  and  scattered  them,  and  he  shot  out  lightnings  and 
discomfited  them."  "  Before  him  went  the  pestilence,  and 
diseases  went  forth  at  his  feet.  He  stood,  and  measured  the 
earth ;  he  beheld,  and  drove  asunder  the  nations  :  and  the 
everlasting  mountains  were  scattered,  and  the  perpetual  hills  did 
bow :  his  ways  are  everlasting.  The  mountains  saw  thee, 
and  they  trembled.  The  overflowing  of  the  water  passed  by  : 
the  deep  uttered  his  voice,  and  lifted  up  his  hands  on  high. 
The  sun  and  the  moon  stood  still  in  their  habitation."  All 
nature — heaven,  earth  and  sea  stand  aghast  and  tremble  when 
God,  the  great  and  awful  God,  lifts  his  hand  to  take  vengeance 
on  all  that  obey  not  his  voice.  How  fearful,  then,  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  such  a  God  !  He  has  all  power  in  heaven,  earth 
and  hell.  He  is  a  consuming  fire,  before  whom  all  trans- 
gressors are  as  stubble.  "I  kill  and  I  make  alive,"  saith  this 
High  and  Holy  One,  "  I  wound  and  I  heal ;  neither  is  there 
any  that  can  deliver  out  of  my  hand.  For  I  lift  up  my  hand 
to  heaven  and  say,  I  live  forever.  If  I  whet  my  glittering 
sword  and  mine  hand  take  hold  on  judgment,  I  will  render 
vengeance  to  mine  enemies  and  will  reward  them  that  hate  me. 
I  will  make  mine  arrows  drunk  with  blood,  and  my  sword 
shall  devour  flesh."  Surely,  "  O  Lord  my  God,  thou  art 
very  great"  And  well  might  trembling  and  fear  take  hold 
16* 


370  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

on  the  Psalmist  when  he  came  into  the  presence  of  such  a 
Potentate.  What  humility  became  him  !  what  reverence  and 
fear ! 

David  dared  not  come  into  the  presence  of  his  God  as  the 
heedless  horse  rushes  into  the  battle.  The  sanctuary  was  to 
him  a  most  solemn  place.  He  might  trifle  before  an  earthly 
monarch — he  might  contemn  or  abuse  a  fellow-mortal,  robed 
in  earth's  richest  attire.  But  he  could  not  trifle  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  majesty  of  Heaven.  He  would  not,  for  the  price 
of  his  soul,  insult  and  provoke  his  God  by  listlessness  and 
levity  in  his  presence. 

The  Psalmist  adds  further  considerations  as  illustrative  of 
the  power ,  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God.  He  now  looks 
away  from  his  ever  adorable  character  and  attributes  to  the 
MANIFESTATIONS  of  God  discoverable  in  his  works.  He  has 
already  contemplated  him  as  a  Mighty  Monarch,  adorned  in 
all  the  insignia  of  royalty,  his  palace,  his  throne,  his  empire ; 
his  crown,  his  robes,  his  attendants,  as  far  surpassing  all  the 
regal  decorations  and  magnificence  of  an  earthly  court  as 
Heaven  surpasses  earth,  or  as  infinitude  in  wealth  and  honor 
exceeds  the  poor  beggarly  elements  of  the  world.  And  he 
had  contemplated  him  as  the  avenger  of  his  honor — clad  in 
his  fierce  indignation — going  forth  in  his  judgments  as  a  de 
vouring  fire — the  earth  trembles  at  his  presence — the  sea  is 
thrown  into  consternation — and  trembling  takes  hold  on  the 
heavens  because  he  is  wroth.  But  now  the  pious  king  casts 
his  eye  about  him  and  contemplates  the  immortal  and  invisi- 
ble Potentate  as  he  is  set  forth  in  his  works.  The  creation  of 
this  globe — both  land  and  water — the  stocking  the  earth  and 
the  sea,  respectively,  with  a  superabundance  of  living  crea- 


NATURE  INSPIRING   DEVOTION.  371 

tures — the  provision  which  is  made  for  their  subsistence  both 
as  to  food  and  drink — and  the  arrangement  he  has  made,  by 
means  of  day  and  night,  for  the  labor,  refreshment  and  protec- 
tion of  man,  are  some  of  the  topics  which  inspire  the  devotion 
and  raise  heavenward  the  pious  soul  of  the  royal  worshipper. 
He  read  not  the  Book  of  Revelation  only,  by  which  to  raise 
in  his  heart  the  fire  of  devotion,  but  he  opened  wide  before 
him  the  volume  of  nature,  from  which  he  derived  the  same 
great  truth,  caught  the  same  seraphic  feelings,  and  felt  urged 
home  upon  him  the  same  sacred  duties.  Should  we  not  in 
this  imitate  him  ?  Should  not  our  souls  take  fire  at  the  altar 
of  nature's  God  when  we  survey  the  wonderful  design  and 
the  exquisite  as  well  as  sublime  workmanship  of  the  Divine 
architect  ?  Were  we  to  give  to  this  subject  the  pious  contem- 
plation which  it  deserves,  should  we  not  find  it  an  infinitely 
richer  source  of  religious  pleasure  and  instruction  than  we 
now  do — and  should  we  not  sympathize  with  the  Psalmist  in 
the  exclamation,  "  When  I  consider  the  heavens,  the  work  of 
thy  fingers,  the  moon,  and  the  stars  which  thou  hast  made, 
what  is  man  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him  1 "  Nothing,  aside 
from  a  direct  revelation,  can  give  us  such  clear,  elevated  and 
enlarged  views  of  the  Divine  Majesty,  as  a  contemplation  of 
nature's  works. 

David  proceeds  to  infuse  into  his  mind  the  fire  of  devo- 
tion by  further  recounting  the  attributes  and  excellencies  of 
his  God  as  displayed  in  his  works.  "  Who,"  says  he,  "  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  earth,  that  it  should  not  be  removed  for- 
ever. Thou  coveredst  it  with  the  deep  as  with  a  garment : 
the  waters  stood  above  the  mountains.  At  thy  rebuke  they 
fled ;  at  the  voice  of  thy  thunder  they  hasted  a*vay.  They 


372  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GEEAT   KING. 

go  up  by  the  mountains ;  they  go  down  by  the  valleys  unto 
the  place  which  thou  hast  founded  for  them."  Thus  passed 
through  the  mind  of  the  king  and  the  prophet,  as  he  bowed 
down  and  worshipped,  the  stupendous  work  of  creation — God 
calling  all  things  into  being  by  a  mere  word — suspending  this 
mighty  globe  in  mid-space :  borne  up  by  its  own  weight,  yet 
as  immovably  fixed  in  its  orbit  as  if  it  were  founded  on  an 
everlasting  rock.  First  he  sees  the  earth  "  without  form, 
and  void  " — of  a  paste-like  consistence — the  water  and  the  dry 
land  not  yet  being  separated.  It  is  covered  with  the  deep  even 
to  the  tops  of  the  mountains — like  a  sightless  lump  of  clay, 
without  prominence  or  valley,  river  or  sea,  forest  or  field. 
But  on  the  third  day  the  command  is  given — the  "  rebuke  "  is 
uttered ;  "Let  the  waters  under  the  heaven  be  gathered  into  one 
place  and  let  the  dry  land  appear.  And  the  wraters  "  fled," 
and  at  the  voice  of  thy  thunder  they  hasted  away,  and  formed 
the  mighty  deep.  And,  as  some  read  the  eighth  verse,  "  the 
mountains  ascend,  and  the  valleys  descend  to  the  place  thou 
hast  established  for  them."  The  earth  in  the  great  transfor- 
mation which  separated  the  solid  and  fluid  parts  of  the  globe, 
is  thrown  into  hill  and  ^ale,  mountain  and  deep  ravine.  And 
again,  its  solid  parts  are  left  in  different  degrees  of  density,  as 
the  metal,  the  rock,  the  sand,  the  mellow  loom,  suited  to  the 
wants  of  its  future  tenants.  And  he  set  bounds  to  the  sea, 
which  it  might  not  pass  and  turn  again  to  cover  the  earth. 
But  for  the  power  of  his  arm  who  said,  "  Hitherto  shalt  thou 
come,  but  no  further,  and  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be 
stayed,"  the  sea  would  "  turn  again  "  to  cover  the  earth  as  it 
did  at  the  beginning.  What  a  proof  this  .of  our  dependence  on 
the  almighty  .arm.  If  he  hold  not  the  raging  billows  within 


THE  DIVINE  PURPOSES   IN   NATURE.  373 

their  assigned  limits,  they  would  break  forth  and  in  their  irre- 
sistless  course,  overwhelm  every  living  thing.  What  a  theme 
do  we  find  here  for  praise  and  thanksgiving,  for  adoration  and 
love  to  the  great  Supreme.  How  good  to  stir  up  our  minds 
by  a  survey  of  His  wonderful  works.  While  we  muse  upon 
these  the  fire  of  devotion  will  burn. 

Nor  does  the  Psalmist  in  his  pious  contemplations  stop 
here.  He  follows  up  the  footsteps  of  the  great  architect — he 
looks  into  the  bowels  of  the  mighty  machine,  and  sees  by 
whom,  and  for  whom,  and  to  what  end  it  is. made.  And  how 
does  his  admiration  rise,  how  his  pious  emotions  burst  forth 
when  he  contemplates  the  divine  purposes  in  the  production 
of  this  world.  He  sees  it  not  merely  a  mighty  ball  hung  out 
ih  the  heavens  to  be  numbered  among  the  gems  of  night,  but  a 
vast  habitation  fitted  up  for  the  abode  of  a  great  variety  of 
living  creatures. 

The  earth,  the  waters,  the  air,  teem  with  life.  The  unin- 
formed have  no  just  conception  of  the  variety  and  the  multi- 
tude of  living  creatures.  The  productiveness  of  many  of  the 
lower  grades  of  animals  is  almost  beyond  belief.  But  these 
are  not  the  facts  which  at  this  time  engage  the  devotional  feel- 
ings of  the  Psalmist;  it  is  rather  to  the  wise  and  benevo- 
lent arrangements  by  which  God  has  provided  for  the  wants 
and  conveniences  of  his  great  family  of  living  beings.  And 
first,  the  provision  made  to  supply  animals  of  every  grade  and 
clime,  with  fresh  water — an  article  indispensable  to  the  exist- 
ence of  every  living  thing.  The  grand  reservoir  of  water  is 
salt — not  capable  of  sustaining  life,  yet  it  sends  forth  its  sweet 
streams  into  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  dry  land.  Not  an 
acre — not  a  yard,  but  yields,  if  not  on  its  surface,  by  descend- 


374          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

ing  a  little,  a  supply  of  fresh  water.  The  Arab  that  roves  on 
his  native  sands,  the  Laplander  that  shivers  in  his  icy  hut, 
the  lion  that  prowls  in  the  forest  of  Africa,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  wilds  and  the  tenants  of  the  rocks,  all  receive 
their  supply  of  this  indispensable  beverage.  And  this,  with- 
out their  having  the  trouble  to  go  to  the  grand  reservoir.  It 
is  brought  to  their  habitation  without  their  pains  or  expense. 
The  great  architect  has  perforated  this  ball  in  every  conceiva- 
ble direction,  through  which  apertures  or  water-courses,  he 
sends  the  needed  fluid.  This  is  what  so  excited  the  pious 
admiration  of  the  Psalmist :  "  He  sendeth  the  springs  into 
the  valleys,  which  run  among  the  hills.  They  give  drink  to 
every  beast  of  the  field :  the  wild  asses  quench  their  thirst. 
By  them  shall  the  fowls  of  the  heaven  have  their  habitation." 
This  is  one  way  by  which  every  portion  of  the  earth  is  made 
to  yield  a  supply  of  water  to  every  living  thing.  The  water 
of  the  ocean  is  filtered  through  the  earth,  purified  of  its  salt 
ness  and  corruption,  and  brought  to  the  surface  of  the  earth 
for  the  use  of  man  and  brute.  And  another  way  is,  "  He 
watereth  the  hills  from  his  chambers:  the  earth  is  satisfied 
with  the  fruit  of  thy  works."  The  waters  of  the  ocea-n  and  of 
the  rivers  ascend  into  the  atmosphere  in  the  form  of  vapor, 
form  clouds  over  our  heads,  called  here  "  chambers  "  of  God, 
and  there  condensing  in  a  cooler  region,  return  on  the  earth 
in  the  shape  of  rain — fertilize  the  ground,  afford  drink  to  ani- 
mals, penetrate  the  earth,  form  springs,  rills,  streamlets, 
rivers,  which  return  the  waters  into  the  mother  fountain. 

Nor  is  this  all :  God  provides  food  for  all.  This  afforded 
the  pious  King  an  additional  topic  of  meditation  when  he  came 
to  worship.  "  He  causeth  the  grass  to  grow  for  the  cattle 


GOD'S    CAKE   FOR   ANIMALS.  375 

and  herb  (all  kinds  of  vegetable  food)  for  the  service  of  man." 
"  He  bringeth  forth  food  out  of  the  earth :  and  wine  that 
maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man,  and  oil  to  make  his  face  to 
shine,  and  bread  which  strengtheneth  his  heart."  "  Wine " 
and  "  oil "  here  doubtless  represent  the  respective  fruits  of  the 
vineyard  and  the  olive-yard — wine  not  the  fermented  juice  of 
the  grape,  but  the  grape  itself;  or  if  the  juice,  in  a  jelly  state, 
to  be  used  for  food,  or  diluted  in  water  for  a  beverage. 

And  not  only  does  God  provide  food  for  his  creatures,  but 
shelter  and  habitation.  "  The  trees  of.  the  Lord  "  are  for  the 
birds,  where  they  may  "  make  their  nests."  "  As  for  the  stork, 
the  fir-trees  are  her  house."  "  The  high  hills  are  a  refuge  for 
the  wild  goats,  and  the  rocks  for  the  conies."  Rocks,  caves, 
dens,  and  deep  ravines  are  the  respective  habitations  which 
God  has  provided  for  different  tribes  of  animals. 

Again  the  benevolence  and  wisdom  discovered  in  the  vicis- 
situdes of  day  and  night,  raise  the  thoughts  of  the  contempla- 
tive mind  to  the  beneficent  author.  "  Thou  makest  darkness, 
and  it  is  night,  wherein  all  the  beasts  of  the  forest  do  creep 
forth.  The  young  lions  roar  after  their  prey  and  seek  their 
meat  from  God.  The  sun  ariseth,  {hey  gather  themselves 
together  and  lay  them  down  in  their  dens."  Then  "  man 
gaeth  forth  to  his  work."  How  wise  and  benevolent  such  an 
arrangement !  God  draws  his  thick  curtains  around  us  ;  all  is 
hushed  in  silence  and  we  repose.  And  now  God  opens  the  doors 
of  their  habitations  and  sends  them  forth  to  forage  the  tenants 
of  the  rock,  the  mountain  and  the  forest.  Roaring  after  their 
prey  they  seek  their  meat  from  God.  How  entirely  adapted 
are  these  divine  arrangements  to  the  constitutions,  the  habits 
and  the  wants  of  the  various  grades  of  living  things. 


376  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT  KING. 

But  what  impressions  ought  such  contemplations  to  pro- 
duce on  the  mind — what  influence  to  exercise  on  the  heart. 
The  survey  filled  the  heart  of  the  Psalmist  with  admiration — 
with  love,  praise  and  unfeigned  devotion.  "  The  earth,"  ex- 
claims he,  "  is  full  of  thy  riches."  So  great,  so  good,  so 
glorious  in  power  and  wisdom  did  God  appear  in  this  survey 
of  his  material  workmanship  that  his  full  heart  found  utter- 
ance in  expressions  like  these  :  "  I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord  as 
long  as  I  live  :  I  will  sing  praise  to  my  God  while  I  have  my 
being  :  my  meditations  of  him  shall  be  sweet :  I  will  be  glad 
in  the  Lord.  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  Praise  ye  the 
Lord." 

He  would  be  glad  in  the  Lord.  He  would  praise  and 
magnify  his  God  and  worship  with  gratitude  and  thanksgiving. 

He  had  seemed  to  stand  by  the  great  architect  and  see 
him  call  out  of  nothing  the  huge  and  formless  lump  of  this 
globe.  Dreary  and  waste  it  assumed  form  and  beauty — the 
waters  collect  in  their  vast  reservoirs,  and  the  dry  land  ap- 
pears. Hills  and  dales,  rivers  and  lakes,  mountains  and  dash- 
ing cascades  diversify  its  face.  Every  minute  portion  is 
watered  by  springs  and  streamlets.  A  soil  is  formed — vege- 
tation springs  up — not  only  to  meet  the  demands  of  necessity, 
but  to  supply  a  thousand  luxuries.  Nothing  was  made  in  vain 
— nothing  not  suited  to  its  purpose. 

Next  the  Psalmist  casts  his  eye  over  the  sea  and  derives 
thence  other  reasons  why  he  should  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  the 
Lord :  "  This  great  and  wide  sea,  wherein  are  things  creep- 
ing innumerable,  both  small  and  great  beasts :  there  go  the 
ships  :  there  is  that  leviathan  whom  thou  hast  made  to  play 
therein."  David  discovers  reasons  for  gratitude  in  the  exist- 


NATURAL   HISTORY    OF   THE   SEA.  377 

ence  and  uses  of  the  ocean.  The  magnitude  of  the  ocean — it 
covering  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  earth's  surface — the 
power  displayed,  especially  when  this  mighty  expanse  of 
waters  is  lashed  into  a  rage — the  sublimity  of  the  ocean,  have 
ever  afforded  themes  calculated  to  inspire  the  reflecting  and 
pious  mind  with  reverence  and  adoration.  But  the  points  on 
which  the  mind  of  the  Psalmist  most  readily  fixed  as  subjects 
suited  to  inspire  his  soul  with  an  idea  of  the  divine  goodness, 
were  the  replenishing  the  sea  with  such  an  innumerable  multi- 
tude of  living  creatures,  and  the  making  it  a  highway  for  com- 
munication among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  "  Wherein  are 
creeping  things  innumerable,"  and,  "  there  go  the  ships." 
The  natural  history  of  the  ocean  is  as  yet  but  very  imperfectly 
understood,  yet  understood  enough  greatly  to  excite  wonder 
and  admiration  at  the  variety  and  immensity  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  deep.  The  ocean  as  profusely  teems  with  life  as 
the  land ;  and  life  is  there  as  endlessly  diversified,  and  pre- 
sents doubtless  a  longer  chain  of  gradations  from  the  mi- 
nutest to  the  mightiest.  "  There  is  that  great  leviathan,  whom 
thou  hast  made  to  play  therein  " — the  whale,  the  most  formi- 
dable monster  of  the  deep,  that  sports  in  the  great  play-ground 
of  the  vast  expanse  of  waters. 

But  a  contemplation  of  God's  works  excites  our  gratitude 
and  draws  out  our  love  chiefly  as  we  discover  the  uses  of 
them.  The  stocking  the  sea  with  such  an  abundance  and  va- 
riety of  animals,  is  for  use  as  well  as  to  please  with  a  display 
of  goodness  and  wisdom.  A  large  portion  of  the  population 
of  the  globe  are  already  fled  from  the  ocean ;  and  doubtless, 
when  in  the  days  of  her  millenial  glory  the  population  of  the 
earth  shall  be  vastly  multiplied,  a  new  storehouse  of  food  will 


378  THE   PALACE   OP   THE   GREAT  KING. 

be  found  to  have  been  kept  in  reserve  for  a  supply  of  a  pop- 
ulation more  numerous  than  we  can  now  well  conceive. 

But  David  seems  to  have  got  a  clearer  conception  of  the 
utility  of  the  ocean  in  another  respect :  it  was  navigable  : 
"  There  go  the  ships."  The  far  reaching  mind  of  the  royal 
prophet  and  poet  might  have  enjoyed  in  vision  something  of 
the  present  condition  of  the  world  in  respect  to  neighborhood 
and  social  and  commercial  relations.  In  a  barbarous  condi- 
tion of  the  world  there  could  have  been  no  advantages — yea, 
there  would  have  been  many  disadvantages,  had  the  nations 
of  the  earth  been  brought  into  close  neighborhood.  They 
would  have  naturally  corrupted  one  another.  Their  proxim- 
ity would  have  been  the  occasion  "  of  endless  wars  and  of  the 
most  devastating  ruin."  While  nations  remain  idolatrous, 
debased,  depraved,  it  matters  not  how  effectually  separated 
they  are.  While  the  world  was  in  such  a  condition,  Provi- 
dence effectually  kept  them  apart  by  means  of  broad  and 
trackless  oceans ;  and  thus  the  maddening  passions  of  men 
were  circumscribed  within  comparatively  narrow  limits.  But 
when  the  day  approached  that  God  would  enlighten  and  chris- 
tianize the  world,  these*  barriers  were  overstepped.  These 
mighty  oceans  became  a  highway — commerce,  with  the  thou- 
sand facilities  it  affords,  for  the  increase  of  knowledge  and  re- 
ligion, became  an  efficient  instrument  by  which  to  convert  the 
world  to  God.  Thus  God  has  made  the  ocean,  which  once 
seemed  but  the  sporting  field  of'"  leviathan,"  the  great  chan- 
nel of  communication  between  the  different  and  distant  por- 
tions of  the  world.  "  There  go  the  ships,"  has  sent  a  thrill  of 
joy  and  gratitude  into  many  a  Christian's  soul,  as  he  has  seen 
them  bear  away  the  messengers  of  peace  and  pardon,  freighted 


THE  CAEE  OF  GOD  FOB  HIS  CEEATUEES.       379 

with  the  word  of  eternal  life  to  a  perishing  world  :  and  "  here 
come  the  ships,"  has  as  often  filled  with  delight  the  half-enlight- 
ened and  waiting  heathen  who  have  stood  on  their  shores  to 
welcome  the  ambassadors  of  the  cross  to  their  benighted  lands. 

The  Psalmist  found  it  pleasant  to  meditate  on  these  things. 
He  rejoiced  and  was  glad  in  the  Lord  who  doeth  wonders — 
who  overrules  earth  and  ocean  so  as  to  perfect  his  own  praise. 
And  so  should  we  if  we  were  wont  to  see  God  in  all  things. 
"  His  way  is  in  the  sea ;  his  path  in  the  great  waters,  and  his 
footsteps  are  unknown." 

But  I  dwell  too  long  on  a  single  topic.  The  mind  of  the 
royal  saint  next  finds  resources  of  spiritual  enjoyment. 

In  the  plentiful  provision  and  the  tender  and  remitting  care 
of  God  for  all  his  creatures  :  "  These  wait  all  upon  thee  :  that 
thou  mayest  give  them  their  meat  in  due  season.  That  thou 
givest  them  they  gather :  Thou  openest  thy  hand,  they  are 
filled  with  good."  The  abundant  supply  which  God  provides 
for  every  species  of  animal,  however  inert  or  insignificant,  or 
wherever  found,  whether  in  the  depth  of  the  ocean,  or  deep 
buried  in  the  earth,  or  fast  encased  in  the  solid  rock ;  the 
instinct  of  all  the  various  tribes  of  irrational  creatures  to  search 
out  the  particular  kind  of  food  which  has  been  provided  for 
their  sustenance,  and  refuse  what  is  hurtful ;  the  efforts  they 
make  to  gather  what  is  provided  for  them,  and  the  content- 
ment with  which  they  accept  their  allotted  supplies,  cannot 
fail  to  excite  our  admiration  of  the  goodness  and  wisdom  of 
God  in  his  providential  care  over  his  creatures.  "  My  medi- 
tation of  him  shall  be  sweet :  I  will  be  glad  in  the  Lord." 

Hence  the  Psalmist  takes  notice,  as  another  topic  of  pleas- 
ing interest,  of  the  dependence  of  all  creatures  on  God  and  of 


380          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

his  dominion  over  them  all :  "  Thou  hidest  thy  face,  they  are 
troubled  :  thou  takest  away  their  breath,  they  die  and  return 
to  their  dust.  Thou  sendest  forth  thy  Spirit,  they  are  created : 
and  thou  renewest  the  face  of  the  earth."  The  meanest  insect 
is  as  dependent  on  God  for  natural  life  as  the  saint  is  for  spir- 
itual life.  In  another  place  David  says  of  himself :  "  Thou 
didst  hide  thy  face,  and  I  was  troubled."  God  gives  natural 
life  to  all  his  creatures,  sustains  it,  and  takes  it  away  at  his 
pleasure.  There  is  not  a  creeping  thing  so  insignificant  as  not 
to  be  the  object  of  his  care — not  a  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground 
without  his  notice.  Why  then  should  we  ever  distrust  1  In 
a  day,  and  perhaps  (in  the  case  of  some  tribes  of  insects,)  in 
an  hour  after  their  creation,  a  whole  generation  is  cut  off  and 
renewed  by  another.  This  is  here  all  attributed  to  divine 
power  :  "  Thou  takest  away  their  breath,  they  die  " — "  thou 
sendest  forth  thy  spirit,  they  are  created  " — another  genera- 
tion appears. 

What  an  idea  does  this  give  us  of  God  !  Nothing  is  too 
minute — nothing  too  insignificant,  to  put  it  beyond  the  care 
and  government  of  God.  "  His  tender  mercies  are  over  all 
the  works  of  his  hands."  Nothing  escapes  his  notice — noth- 
ing which  is  not  subject  to  his  care  and  made  subservient  to 
his  government.  How  great  must  that  Being  be  who  can 
make  and  superintend  and  rule  over  so  vast  a  universe  of 
beings — to  give  breath  to  the  minutest  insect  that  creeps — to 
provide  food  for  all  the  beasts  of  the  field,  the  fowls  of  the  air 
and  the  fishes  of  the  sea — to  take  away  their  breath  when  they 
die,  and  to  renew  by  his  Spirit,  every  successive  generation. 
And  if  God  so  clothe  the  fields  and  care  for  the  birds  of  the 
air,  how  much  more  shall  he  take  care  of  you  !  O  ye  of  little 
faith ! 


PEACTICAL  REFLECTIONS.  381 

But  the  Psalmist  will  not  dismiss  these  pleasing  medita- 
tions without  practical  reflections,  which  expand  his  soul,  and 
raise  his  thoughts  into  the  regions  of  high  devotions.  And 
such  contemplations,  if  rightly  indulged  in,  would  profit  ug  in 
like  manner.  Let  us  therefore  endeavor  to  trace  the  work- 
ings of  David's  pious  soul,  that  we  may  participate  in  the 
practical  influence  which  contemplations  like  the  above  had 
on  him.  His  mind  is  brought  to  certain  delightful  conclu- 
sions ;  the  first  is, 

That  "  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  endure  forever." 

Look  up,  O  my  soul,  to  Him  who  is  the  author,  the  fin- 
isher and  preserver  of  all  His  creatures.  How  great  and 
glorious  He  must  be  !  And  this  glory  shall  endure  forever. 
It  shall  endure  throughout  all  time  in  the  works  of  creation 
and  providence,  and  throughout  all  eternity  in  the  adoration 
and  praises  of  angels  and  saints.  He  is  the  Sovereign  God, 
the  Universal  King,  the  only  Potentate,  and  none  can  take  the 
glory  from  him.  The  pious  mind  sees  a  foundation  in  the 
works  of  creation  and  providence  for  eternal  praise  to  God. 
But  if  here,  as  New  Testament  saints,  we  bring  iijto  the  ac- 
count the  element  of  redeeming  love — the  works  of  the  new 
creation,  we  discover  a  still  higher  ground  on  which  to  predi- 
cate the  everlasting  glory  of  the  Lord. 

Another  conclusion  to  which  the  Psalmist  comes,  is,  that 
it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  incense  such  a  God,  or  in  any  way  to 
resist  his  will :  "  He  looketh  on  the  earth  and  it  trembleth  ; 
He  toucheth  the  hills  and  they  smoke."  How  fearful,  how 
vain  a  thing  for  puny  men  to  set  such  power  at  defiance. 
All  the  springs  of  nature — all  the  resources  of  heaven,  earth 
and  hell  are  at  his  command,  and  the  mightiest  human  power 


382          THE  PAT.Ar.1C  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

is  less  than  the  chaff  before  the  wind  in  his  sight.  Fear  not 
them  that  kill  the  body,  and  after  that  have  nothing  more  that 
they  can  do.  But  I  will  forewarn  you  whom  ye  shall  fear : 
fear  Him  which  after  he  hath  killed,  hath  power  to  cast  in 
hell ;  yea,  I  say  unto  you,  fear  Him.  Next 

We  have  the  conclusion  of  the  Psalmist  as  to  how  he  will 
demean  himself  in  view  of  such  a  God.  "  I  will  sing  unto  the 
Lord,"  says  he,  "  as  long  as  I  live :  I  will  sing  praise  unto  the 
Lord,  while  I  have  a  being.  My  meditation  of  him  shall  be 
sweet  :  I  will  be  glad  in  the  Lord."  He  would  think  much 
on  God — he  would  praise  his  works  and  his  ways.  Such 
meditations  he  found  sweet.  It  was  delightful  to  turn  off 
from  the  melancholy  contemplation  of  his  own  weakness  and 
corruption,  to  think  on  the  infinite  purity  and  excellence  of 
God — delightful  to  seek  relief  from  the  moral  wastes  and  cor- 
ruptions of  humanity,  in  the  eternal  excellency  of  the  God- 
head ;  and  here  he  discovered  reasons  for  continual  praise. 
While  he  lived  in  the  flesh  he  would  praise  God  ;  yea,  as  long 
as  he  should  have  a  being — while  immortality  endures,  his 
spirit  should  never  cease  to  sing  praises  to  Jehovah.  And 
have  we  not  the  same  reasons  to  rejoice  in  the  Lord — to  serve 
and  love  the  great  I  AM — the  same  motives  to  light  up  our 
souls  and  to  give  our  minds  in  holy  zeal  for  the  honor  of  such 
a  God  ?  All  nature  rebukes  our  apathy.  Every  thing  that 
God  has  made  urges  us  on  to  fidelity  and  zeal  and  holy  love. 
While  we  have  a  being,  let  us  honor  him  who  has  so  glorious- 
ly honored  himself  in  all  his  works. 

But  what  says  the  glowing  love  of  our  saint,  of  those  who 
will  not  love  and  praise  and  honor  such  a  God  ?  While  his 
own  soul  burns  with  holy  jealousy,  and  is  wrapt  in  holy  love 


DESTRUCTION   OP   GOD'S  ENEMIES.  383 

for  such  a  God,  what  does  he  see  to  be  the  righteous  doom  of 
all  such  as  will  not  yield  a  willing  homage  to  so  glorious  a 
Being,  and  join  in  the  general  chorus  of  all  nature  in  ascribing 
praise  and  honor  to  him  ?  "  Let  the  sinners  be  consumed  out 
of  the  earth,  and  let  the  wicked  be  no  more."  If  with  such 
reasons  to  move  them — if  with  such  motives  to  draw  out  their 
souls  to  God,  they  will  not  love  and  honor  God — if  they  will 
be  dumb,  while  all  nature  is  vocal  with  the  praises  of  God — 
aliens  and  rebels  are  more  irrational  than  the  brute  creation. 
Why,  it  is  not  fit  that  they  should  have  a  place  on  God's  foot- 
stool— it  is  meet  that  they  should  be  consumed  out  of  the 
earth  and  be  no  more.  Why  should  they  live  on  God's  bounty ; 
why  be  upheld  by  his  goodness,  only  to  raise  rebellion  in  his 
empire  and  to  produce  discord  in  the  general  symphony  of 
all  his  loyal  subjects  1  Heaven  responds,  let  them  perish. 

Finally,  it  is  a  matter  of  holy  rejoicing  when  God  triumphs, 
and  his  enemies  are  destroyed  :  "  Bless  thou  the  Lord,  O  my 
soul.  Praise  ye  the  Lord."  "  And  all  the  angels  that  stand 
about  the  throne,  and  the  elders,  and  the  four  beasts,  fall  be- 
fore the  throne  on  their  faces  and  worship  God,  saying,  Amen. 
Blessing,  and  glory,  and  widsom,  and  thanksgiving,  and  honor, 
and  might  be  unto  our  God  for  ever  and  ever,  Amen." 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

CONCLUSION:  The  Claims  of  Natural  Eeligion;  the  Origin  of  false  Eeligions;  their 
Philosophy  and  History ;  Keasons  for  one  common  universal  Eeligion,  and  that 
Christianity. 

AND  may  I  not  now,  before  taking  a  final  leave  of  the 
reader,  ask  him  to  bow  down  in  the  August  Temple  we  have 
been  contemplating  and  worship  the  great  and  glorious  Being 
who  has  stretched  out  the  heavens  and  laid  the  foundations  of 
earth,  and  gives  life  and  breath  and  all  things.  The  claims  of 
NATURAL  EELIGION  seem  here  to  force  themselves  upon  us  with 
renewed  earnestness.  The  original  religion  of  man  we  may 
claim  to  have  been  a  Natural  Keligion.  It  was  the  worship 
of  the  God  of  Eden,  and  of  the  beautiful  world  of  which  Eden 
was  the  most  beautiful  representative.  Then  they  worshipped 
the  God  of  the  stars ;  heard  him  in  the  winds,  the  thunder  and 
the  storm.  Every  plant  that  grew,  every  animal,  insect,  bird 
or  fish  that  sported  in  all  the  beauty  and  luxuriance  of  primeval 
life,  bespoke  the  hand  that  made  them  and  the  fatherly  care 
that  watched  over  them  and  fed  them.  Hills,  plains,  rivers, 
trees,  hymned  forth  the  praises  of  their  great  Original.  The 
clouds  were  his  chariot  from  which  he  dispensed  the  rich 
treasures  of  the  skies.  The  morning  stars  sang  his  praise, 
and  the  evening  shades  responded  in  anthems  of  thanksgiving 


CLAIMS    OF   NATUEAL   RELIGION.  385 

and  joy.  All  nature  bespoke  the  goodness,  wisdom  and  pow- 
er of  a  present  Deity. 

Whichever  way  the  favored  progenitors  of  our  race  turned 
their  eyes,  they  discovered  God  in  all  things,  and  God  over 
all.  They  had  no  written  oracles  :  they  needed  none.  The 
living  oracles  were  inscribed  on  every  lineament  of  God's 
universal  workmanship.  The  stupendous  Temple  in  which 
they  stood — its  walls,  its  foundations,  its  vast  concave — every 
particle,  or  contrivance  for  use  or  ornament,  prompted  their 
willing  hearts  to  adoration  and  praise.  Every  breeze  that 
blew,  every  flower  that  opened  and  shed  forth  its  fragrance — 
the  sunshine  and  the  shade — heat  and  cold — day  and  night, 
uttered  their  persuasive  voice,  inviting  men  to  bow  down  and 
worship  the  universal  Parent. 

Some  one  has  spoken  of  God  as  "  the  greatest  of  workers," 
the  "  chief  of  artificers."  He  locks  not  up  his  wisdom  in  mere 
abstractions,  but  rather  embodies  it  in  tangible  objects,  and  in 
this  way  makes  manifest  his  intelligence,  his  ingenuity  and  all 
his  vast  mental  resources.  "  This  world  is  but  one  of  his 
workshops,  and  the  universe  but  a  collection  of  his  inventions." 
His  works  everywhere  proclaim  his  preference  of  the  material 
and  useful  to  the  merely  imaginative. 

No  class  of  men  have  reasons  for  profounder  and  more 
reverential  worship  than  mechanics,  especially  those  of  the 
class  who  are  inventors,  discoverers,  or  practical  and  pious 
philosophers.  As  they  range  amidst  the  wonderful  realities  of 
the  universe,  replete  as  it  is  with  design,  and  redolent  in  its 
minutest  arrangement  with  wisdom  and  goodness  infinite,  the 
greatest  wonder  of  all  to  such  a  one  is  the  Eternal  Mind  him- 
self, from  whose  conception  it  rose,  and  whose  prolific  fiat  gave 
17 


386          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

birth  to  it,  in  all  its  vastness  and  variety.  "  And  instead  of 
the  temple  of  science  having  been  reared,  it  is  more  proper  to 
say  that  the  temple  of  nature  has  been  evolved.  The  archetype 
of  science  is  the  universe,  and  it  is  in  the  disclosure  of  its 
successive  parts,  that  science  advances  from  step  to  step — not 
properly  raising  any  new  architecture  of  its  own,  but  rather 
unveiling  by  degrees  an  architecture  that  is  old  as  the  creation. 
The  laborers  in  philosophy  create  nothing,  but  only  bring  out 
into  exhibition  that  which  was  before  created." 

The  more  profound  then  the  researches  of  our  intelligent, 
philosophical  mechanic,  the  more  ingenious  his  workmanship, 
or  sublime  and  useful  his  discoveries  and  inventions,  the  more 
he  finds  himself  imitating  and  reaching  after  God,  and  the 
profounder  and  more  reverential  are  his  thoughts  of  God,  and 
the  more  intelligent  and  humble  his  worship.  Every  new 
discovery  or  invention,  every  advance  in  ingenuity  or  skill, 
every  new  law  of  nature  he  may  explain  and  appropriate, 
every  new  substance  he  may  discover,  is  but  a  further  exposi- 
tion of  the  powers  and  skill  of  the  Great  Architect,  and  a  fur- 
ther acquaintance  with  the  exhaustless  storehouse  of  the  Great 
Proprietor.  His  advancement  is  simply  a  more  complete 
development  of  his  own  original  mental  powers,  and  a  more 
profound  acquaintance  with  the  objects  of  his  researches. 
Nothing  new  has  been  evolved.  And  so  he  may  go  on  to  all 
eternity.  Every  step  does  but  reveal  himself  and  reveal  his 
God ;  himself  as  the  embryo  of  unlimited  capabilities  of  re- 
search and  investigation  ;  and  God  as  the  Great  Author  and 
Proprietor  of  all  things. 

Where,  if  not  in  such  a  position,  does  a  man  discover 
reasons,  motives,  incentives  for  the  adoration  and  praise  of  his 


WHY   A   REVEALED   EELIGION.  387 

God?  Certainly  nothing  is  more  reasonable,  nothing  more 
congenial  to  the  right  mind  than  what  is  denominated  Natural 
Keligion. 

Nor  need  we  by  any  means  confine  our  remarks  to  the 
class  in  question.  Other  classes  of  men — all  classes,  may, 
each  in  its  own  department  of  pursuit  and  observation,  discover 
the  same  reasons  and  incentives  to  bow  down  in  the  great 
Temple  and  worship  the  King.  They  who  cultivate  the  soil, 
and  whose  garners  groan  beneath  the  bounties  of  the  liberal 
Hand ;  they  who  delve  deep  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and 
bring  up  every  useful  and  precious  mineral  and  metal,  and 
wonder  at  the  boundless  treasures  which  lie  hid  in  the  deep 
caverns  of  the  earth ;  and  "  they  that  go  down  to  the  sea  in 
ships,  that  do  business  in  great  waters;  these  see  the  works 
of  the  Lord,  and  his  wonders  in  the  deep."  How  are  they 
called  on  to  "  praise  the  Lord  for  his  goodness,  and  for  his 
wonderful  works  to  the  children  of  men." 

But  for  the  apostasy  Eevealed  Keligion  had  had  no  place 
in  the  Theology  of  man.  Inscribed  on  the  broad  and  open 
volume  of  nature,  patent  as  the  sun  in  the  firmament,  are  all 
the  laws,  all  the  promises,  all  the  guidance  urifallen  man  need- 
ed. Sin  created  the  necessity  of  a  Eevelation.  The  whole  is 
a  testimony  concerning  Jesus  the  Mediator — the  promise,  the 
prophecy ;  the  advent ;  the  works,  the  sufferings  and  death  of 
the  Deliverer ;  the  means  and  agencies  of  salvation,  and  the 
glorious  realizations  of  a  saving  faith  in  the  atoning  blood. 
The  voice  of  God  as  he  spake  in  the  flower,  the  breeze  and 
the  dew-drop ;  in  the  sunshine,  the  rain,  and  the  health-bear- 
ing air ;  as  he  spake  in  the  ten  thousand  manifestations  of  his 
goodness,  had  been  hushed  by  the  tumults  of  sin,  and  the 


388  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

benignant  face  of  Heaven  was  obscured  by  a  cloud.  It  was 
needful  that  the  voice  of  Mercy  should  now  speak  and  pro- 
claim peace  and  pardon  to  the  erring.  Such  is  the  revelation, 
and  such  the  nature  of  that  life  and  immortality  brought  to 
light  through  our  revealed  Eeligion. 

And  we  need  only  recur  to  what  has  been  said  of  the  adap- 
tations of  all  physical  objects  and  organizations,  to  the  mental 
progress  and  the  moral  improvement  of  man,  and  we  shall  see 
reasons,  urging  home  upon  us  again  the  obligations  of  Natural 
Keligion. 

But  we  would  present  the  thought  in  another  form.  The 
view  we  have  taken  in  the  foregoing  pages  of  God  and 
his  works,  and  of  man  and  his  obligations  and  duties,  very 
naturally  conducts  us  back  to  the  origin  of  Religions,  and 
conveys  some  just  notions  of  their  Philosophy  and  their 
History. 

There  is  much  of  profound  interest  in  the  origin,  the  his- 
tory, and  the  philosophy  of  False  Keligions.  Constituting,  as 
they  do,  the  most  subtile  combination  of  all  the  engines  of 
mischief  which  the  great  adversary  wields,  there  is  much  in 
them  when  contemplated  as  perversions  and  counterfeits,  both 
to  admire  and  lament.  We  meet  in  false  religions  not  so  much 
absolute  falsehood  as  truth  perverted  and  counterfeited,  to  the 
peril  of  man's  best  interests  in  this  life,  and  his  eternal  undoing 
in  the  life  to  come. 

False  religions  have  a  common  origin,  and  more  in  common 
than  is  generally  allowed.  Based  on  practical  atheism,  it  is 
not  easy  to  determine  which  recognizes  the  least  of  God. 
Neither  Paganism,  Popery,  nor  Mohammedanism  questions  the 
abstract  being  of  God.  Such  a  monstrosity  falls  only  within 


CHAEACTEK   OF  FALSE  RELIGIONS.  389 

the  dark  domains  of  Atheism.  Eeason  and  conscience  never 
said,  "There .is  no  God."  This  is  the  language  of  the  heart. 
God  has  stamped  his  image  on  all  his  works.  The  heavens 
declare  the  being  and  agency  of  God — the  succession  of  day 
and  night  proclaim  it — everything  shadows  forth  an  all-per- 
vading Deity. 

False  religions  have  formed  a  crafty  compromise  between 
the  conflicting  elements  of  man.  They  yield  to  Eeason,  who 
knows_  there  is  a  God,  and  to  Conscience,  who  feels  it,  the 
abstract  fact  of  the  Divine  existence,  but  grant  to  the  hearty 
which  has  no  complacency  in  the  character  of  the  God  of 
Reason  and  Conscience,  the  prerogative  of  clothing  this 
Being  with  attributes  congenial  with  its  own  corrupt  nature. 
Hence  the  invention  of  other  gods,  and  the  assigning  to  the 
true  God  a  fictitious  character ;  and  hence  the  fabrication  of 
corresponding  systems  of  religion.  Yet,  in  the  compromise, 
the  heart,  de  facto,  has  the  advantage.  For,  while  it  theoreti- 
cally acknowledges  the  being  of  one  Supreme  God,  by  adding 
at  the  same  time  a  multitude  of  lesser  deities  to  which  it  pays 
its  supreme  homage,  it  practically  loses  sight  of  both  the  being 
and  authority  of  the  true  God. 

Here  is  the  dark  triumph  of  sin.  It  has  placed  a  black 
and  impenetrable  cloud  between  the  effulgence  of  the  Eternal 
Throne  and  this  lower  world.  It  has  covered  the  earth  with 
darkness — done  its  utmost  to  shut  out  God  from  the  world, 
and  to  usurp  his  dominion  over  this  part  of  his  empire.  It  has 
changed  the  incorruptible  God  into  an  image  made  like  to 
corruptible  man,  and  to  birds  and  four-footed  beasts  and  creep- 
ing things. 

In  order  to  take  a  just  view  of  the  great  systems  of  False 


390          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

Religions  which  have  obtained  in  the  world,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  premise  the  following  things  : 

1.  God  reveals  himself  to  the  world  as  the  world  can  lear 
it,  or  is  prepared  to  receive  it.  And  we  must,  of  consequence, 
look  for  something  corresponding  to  this  in  the  various  systems 
of  Religion  which  have  prevailed  in  different  ages  of  the  world 
and  in  different  countries.  And  we  may  add  that  the  same 
revelation  becomes  a  source  of  more  or  less  light,  according  to 
the  condition  of  the  people  it  enlightens.  In  a  given  amount 
of  sunshine,  the  half-blind  man  sees  but  little  compared  with 
the  man  of  clear  and  open  vision ;  and  they  who  are  enveloped 
in  fog,  little,  compared  with  those  who  bask  in  the  noonday  sun. 
Every  new  acquisition  of  knowledge,  every  well-directed  men- 
tal improvement,  every  advancement  in  society,  casts  new 
light  upon — or  rather  educes  new  light  from,  the  sacred  page ; 
and  so  we  may  say  of  the  cultivation  of  every  Christian 
virtue  and  the  cherishing  of  every  right  affection.  The  same 
truth  as  contemplated  from  different  points,  for  different  pur- 
poses, with  different  feelings  and  affections,  with  a  clearer 
vision,  and  at  a  greater  or  less  distance,  appears  in  new  beau- 
ties and  relations,  and  assumes  new  importance. 

It  will,  therefore,  correct  our  views  and  moderate  ou?  cen- 
sures, when  contemplating  what  are  denominated  False  Relig- 
ions, if  we  take  good  heed  as  we  pass,  to  our  chronology,  to 
our  geography,  physical,  political  and  moral,  and  to  the  entire 
condition  of  the  people  as  to  knowledge,  mental  improvement 
and  civilization.  A  religion  which  is  essentially  false  in  one 
age  or  condition  of  the  world,  might  have  been  essentially 
true  in  another  age  or  condition.  For  an  illustration  of  this 
we  need  go  no  further  back  than  Judaism. 


CONDITION    OF   MAN   PROGRESSIVE.  391 

2.  Another  point  to  be  borne  in  mind  is,  the  mental  and 
moral  improvement  of  our  race.  The  condition  of  the  human 
race  is  progressive.  Partial  and  local  retrogressions  have  at 
times,  and  for  considerable  portions  of  time,  occurred,  yet 
these  should  be  regarded  rather  as  the  temporary  results  of  the 
ebullitions,  the  confusions,  and  apparent  dissolutions  which 
usually  precede  the  introduction  and  establishment  of  a  new 
and  better  order  of  things,  than  as  real  retrogressions.  It  is 
the  "  shaking  "  of  those  things  which  shall  be  "  removed."  To 
us  who  reckon  time  by  months  and  years,  centuries  appear  a 
\oi\gpreparatory  season.  But  He  who  inhabits  eternity  and 
plans  for  infinite  duration,  feels  no  such  restraints.  With  him 
a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day. 

Could  we  stand  in  the  council  chamber  of  heaven  and  with 
the  eye  of  Omniscience  survey,  in  the  field  of  our  vision,  the 
whole  of  the  Divine  procedure  towards  our  world,  we  should 
see  a  steady,  onward,  irresistible  march  of  Providence,  execut- 
ing the  Divine  purposes  and  at  every  step  approaching  the  goal 
of  a  final  and  glorious  consummation.  But  standing,  as  we 
do,  at  an  infinite  remove  from  the  Imperial  centre,  and  amidst 
all  the  darkness,  disorders,  and  perversions  of  sin,  where  so 
much  is  to  be  wwdone  before  God's  peculiar  work  on  earth  can 
be  done — where  there  must  be  so  much  pulling  down  of  both 
superstructure  and  foundation,  before  the  true  Temple  can  be 
reared  and  completed,  preparatory  work  often  appears  to  us 
not  the  work  of  progress,  but  of  retrogression. 

The  correct  view  we  believe  is :  That  the  energies  of  Prov- 
idence are  engaged  to  erect  a  perfect  building — to  elaborate 
and  complete  a  perfect  system.  But  as  he  will  do  this  through 
the  medium  of  human  sagacity  and  toil,  all  possible  systems., 


392         THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

we  had  almost  said,  are  permitted  to  exist  while  the  great 
Building — the  true  System,  is  in  progress,  that  an  endless 
variety  of  facts  may  be  elicited,  experiments  tried  and  results 
arrived  at,  from  which,  as  from  a  profuse  mass  and  medley, 
human  wisdom  may  choose  the  good  and  eschew  the  bad,  and 
under  the  eye  of  the  great  Architect,  produce  the  perfect  Tem- 
ple. Hence  the  many  strange  systems,  developments  and  fan- 
tasies, which  have  been  permitted,  not  only  in  religion,  but  in 
politics,  ethics,  etc.  They  are  the  materials  from  which  to  se- 
lect. The  middle  ages  were  peculiarly  prolific  in  these,  and 
as  peculiarly  preparatory  to  the  advanced  state  of  the  world 
which  followed.  .  This  advanced  state  was  a  result — a  com- 
pound— a  fabrication  from  pre-existing  materials,  all  thrown 
into  the  crucible  together,  fused — the  dross  being  removed — 
and  run  in  a  new  mould. 

3.  It  comports  with  the  Divine  plan,  that  sin  should  have 
its  perfect  work.  Earth  is  a  usurped  province — Satan  is  the 
god  of  this  world !  And  the  history  of  his  reign  is  written 
with  a  pen  of  iron,  and  shall  be  read  in  heavenly  places,  an 
indelible  lesson  throughout  the  interminable  duration  of  eter- 
nity ;  presenting  an  awfully  edifying  contrast  of  the  misery  of 
sin  and  the  beauty  of  holiness. 

The  world  is  a  vast  machine,  in  every  part  made  right,  and 
if  managed  right,  could  produce  nothing  but  holiness  and  hap- 
piness. Yet  under  the  administration  of  his  Satanic  majesty, 
so  completely  perverted  is  every  thing  that  the  world  is  as  no- 
torious for  violence  and  corruption,  as,  under  a  right  regimen, 
it  would  be  for  peace  and  purity.  In  allowing  Satan  to  dab- 
ble, as  he  is  always  disposed  to,  in  the  religious  affairs  of  the 
world,  in  politics,  in  the  social  and  domestic  economy  of  men, 


GENERAL   UNITY    OF   EELIGIONS.  393 

in  their  science  and  literature,  and  in  yielding  him  the  vast 
resources  of  the  world,  God  has  furnished  all  his  intelligent 
creatures  a  durable  and  melancholy  specimen  of  what  sort  of 
use  sin  makes  of  things  and  creatures  originally  and  intrinsic- 
ally good.  And  when  this  miserable  experiment  shall  have 
been  sufficiently  tried,  and  its  results  made  sufficiently  mani- 
fest, the  Great  King,  the  rightful  Sovereign,  shall  put  down  the 
usurper,  and  exhibit  on  the  same  field  the  diametrically  oppo- 
site, the  infinite  beneficent  and  glorious  results  of  His  reign. 

The  extravagances,  superstitions  and  cruelties  of  False  Ee- 
ligions — or,  as  Carlyle  would  have  it,  "  their  bewildering,  inex- 
tricable jungle  of  delusions,  confusions,  falsehoods  and  absurdi- 
ties," stand  before  us  as  so  many  melancholy  perversions  of  the 
Truth — the  "  many  inventions  "  of  sin — not  original  errors  but 
corruptions  and  perversions. 

The  position  we  shall  attempt  to  maintain  in  this  chapter 
is,  that  Eeligion,  philosophically  regarded,  is  one  grand,  con- 
secutive, progressive  system  from  its  germ  in  the  family  of  the 
first  Adam  to  its  glorious  consummation  in  the  family  of  the 
second  Adam :  and  that  corresponding  with  this  there  has  run 
a  parallel  series  of  counterfeits,  imitating  the  genuine  in  form 
and  lettering,  yet,  intrinsically,  possessing  little  or  nothing  in 
common. 

Satan  is  a  bold  and  accurate  imitator,  not  (from  policy 
only)  an  inventor,  in  the  things  of  religion.  He  too  well 
knows  the  force  of  man's  religious  instinct,  and  too  well  under- 
stands that  there  is  a  spirit  in  man  which  "  witnesses  "  with 
the  Spirit  of  God,  approving  as  heaven-born  the  Eeligion  of 
God's  revealing,  whether  it  be  shadowed  forth  but  obscurely, 
or  revealed  clearly,  to  expect  to  palm  on  the  world  a  sheer 
17* 


894          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GKEAT  KING. 

fabrication  of  his  own.  He  pays  to  Divine  wisdom  the  forced 
homage  of  clothing  his  falsehoods  in  the  costume  of  Truth — in 
the  panoply  of  heaven. 

In  taking  a  brief  survey  of  the  successive  and  progressive 
developments  of  true  Eeligion  we  shall  be  able  to  trace  a  series 
of  corresponding  counterfeits,  by  which  the  Devil  has  contrived 
to  blind  the  eyes  and  delude  the  souls  of  the  tribes  and  kin- 
dreds of  the  earth  in  the  different  ages  of  the  world.  Through- 
out the  whole  he  has  not  failed  to  keep  pace  with  the  march 
of  providential  development,  changing  and  modifying,  adding 
and  subtracting  as  the  world  advanced,  and  as,  one  after 
another,  opened  the  successive  scenes  in  the  great  Drama  of 
Redemption. 

We  date  the  history  of  the  true  Eeligion  in  the  family  of 
Adam.  Immediately  on  the  fall,  a  remedy  for  the  great  moral 
disease  of  man  was  revealed,  and  the  church  of  God  instituted. 
And  from  this  point  radiated  the  first  rays  of  light  over  a  dark 
world.  This  light  increased  and  spread  through  a  succession 
of  holy  men  composing  the  Church,  from  Adam  to  Noah.  The 
posterity  of  Seth  transmitted  the  blessing  through  many  gen- 
erations and  doubtless  among  many  tribes  of  the  newly  peopled 
earth.  In  the  days  of  Enos  there  was  a  remarkable  extension 
of  the  Church,  and  Enoch  was  a  city  set  on  a  hill  which  could 
not  be  hid.  There  must  have  been  at  least,  a  very  general 
knowledge  of  the  true  God,  and  of  the  way  in  which  he  ought 
to  be  worshipped  among  the  nations  who  lived  before  the  flood. 
Nor  is  it  certain  that  men  had  yet  fallen  into  Idolatry,  or  that 
any  great  systems  of  religious  error  had  yet  been  consolidated. 
Wickedness  there  was,  and  violence  and  corruption,  which 
cried  to  heaven  for  vengeance,  yet  perhaps  not  yet  organized 


HISTORY    OF   THE   TKUE   RELIGION.  395 

into  system.  Noah  transplanted  the  germ  of  antediluvian 
piety  into  the  new  world,  where  it  took  root  and  early  spread 
over  the  newly-peopled  earth. 

Then  followed  the  clearer  manifestation  of  the  truth  to 
Abraham,  which  continued  from  the  calling  of  the  Father  of  the 
Faithful  till  the  giving  of  the  law  at  Sinai.  Then  came  the 
gorgeous  ceremonial  of  the  Tabernacle  in  the  wilderness, 
shadowing  forth  new  truths  and  elucidating  old  ones,  and  all 
looking  forward,  with  a  clearer  distinctness,  to  Christ  the  great 
Eeality.  Then  followed  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  Christ,  or 
the  setting  up  of  the  true  Tabernacle. 

In  Judaism,  which  was  the  growth  of  a  thousand  years,  and 
of  which  modern  Judaism  is  the  Popery,  we  meet  the  first 
great  rescue  and  concentration  of  whatever  was  true  in  former 
systems  of  religion.  In  Christianity  we  have  the  first.  This 
is  the  summation  of  the  whole. 

But  we  are  at  present  interested  rather  to  trace  the  corre- 
sponding counterfeits,  that  we  may  see  how  men  swerved  from 
the  simple  truth  as  taught  in  Nature's  Book,  worshipping  the 
work  rather  than  the  great  Worker;  the  creature  than  the 
Creator ;  yet  in  the  perversion  there  still  remain  the  indubit- 
able traces  of  the  original  and  the  true. 

As  "  bewildering,  inextricable  a  jungle  of  delusions,  confu- 
sions, falsehoods  and  absurdities  "  as  this  Paganism  is,  it  was 
once  a  true  religion  to  its  votaries.  All  false  religions  have 
had  a  truth  in  them,  vestiges  of  which,  more  or  less  clear,  are 
yet  discoverable.  In  the  clear  light  of  revelation  men  have 
lost  their  original  acute  sensibility  to  the  Divinity  which  shines 
in  every  star  or  every  blade  of  grass.  The  Temple  of  Nature, 
once  so  beautifully  and  brilliantly  luminous  to  its  worshippers. 


396          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GEE  AT  KING. 

as  lighted  by  ten  thousand  torches  of  its  o\vn,  is  dimmed — a 
shadow  is  cast  over  it  by  the  meridian  splendor  of  heaven's 
Great  Light,  and  few  but  the  thoughtful,  the  philosophic  and 
the  poetic,  "  see  God  in  every  star  and  hear  him  in  the  wind." 

But  in  the  beginning  it  was  not  so.  In  the  earlier  ages  of 
our  race  there  was  a  freshness  in  their  sensibilities  to  natural 
objects — a  vigor  in  their  conceptions,  which,  in  our  greater 
privileges  and  refinement,  we  have  lost.  As  the  man  deprived 
of  his  natural  vision  cultivates  and  realizes  a  kind  of  supernatural 
acuteness  in  the  sense  of  feeling ;  or  the  savage,  before  he  loses 
his  natural  skill  through  the  aid  of  well-marked  roads  and  open 
fields,  has  a  singular  sagacity  of  wending  his  way  through 
trackless  deserts,  and  thickets  dark  and  broad,  so  the  ancients, 
guided  only  by  Nature's  torch-light,  felt  after  God,  and  dis- 
covered Him  and  worshipped  Him  in  a  manner  we  know  little 
of — in  a  manner  we  may  rashly  call  heresy,  yea  worse,  idola- 
try. But  to  them  it  was  not  idolatry.  They  worshipped  the 
God  they  saw  and  knew  and  felt  in  his  works. 

To  the  poor  Sabean — a  physical  man,  all  feeling  in  propor- 
tion to  paucity  of  intellect  and  expression — wandering  over  his 
arid  wastes,  the  "blue  diamond  brightness"  of  the  sun  is  as  the 
eye  of  the  Eternal  beaming  upon  him  as  it  wakes  a  ray  of  the 
yet  unrevealed  splendor  within.  Here  is  to  his  untutored  mind, 
his  uncultivated  imagination,  yet  to  his  wildly  sensitive  heart, 
an  emblem  of  the  Great  Divinity.  Here  is  a  "  transcendent 
wonder,"  and  he  contemplates  it  with  admiration  without  limit. 
Does  he  bow  down,  adore  and  fear  ?  It  is  not  the  luminous 
ball  which  he  worships ;  it  is  some  mighty,  unseen  Power  or 
Intelligence — the  essence  or  Being  which  he  has  discovered  in 
this  emblem  of  the  Deity.  We  may  call  this  Sabeanism  and 
I 


WORSHIP   OF   HEAVENLY   BODIES.  397 

laugh  at,  or  condemn,  or  compassionate  the  monstrosity  which 
has,  through  the  perversion  of  human  depravity  grown  out  of 
it.  We  may  justly  be  astonished  that  vast  generations  of 
rational  men  should  for  so  long  a  time  have  been  befogged  in 
such  an  "  inextricable  jungle  of  delusions  "  as  this  nystem  at 
length  became;  yet  in  its  early  stages  it  was  neither  delusion 
nor  falsehood.  It  was  man  in  his  childish  simplicity  and  in 
the  native  sensibility  of  his  soul  worshipping  in  the  open  Tem- 
ple of  Nature.  He  sees  God,  who  is  invisible,  and  pays  Him 
such  adoration  and  fear  as  he  feels  to  be  His  due. 

For  the  same  reasons  the  moon  and  the  stars  would  in  time 
become  objects  of  adoration  as  lesser  emblems  of  the  same 
effulgent  Glory  hid  beyond  the  clouds.  Such  may  be  taken  as 
the  origin  and  character  of  all  those  provinces  of  Paganism 
where  the  heavenly  bodies  were  made  objects  of  Divine  wor- 
ship, as  in  Sabeanismand  the  religion  of  the  Scandinavians,  or 
the  Norse  system. 

The  transition  from  such  a  system  of  worship  to  that  of 
hero  or  man-worship  was  easy  and  natural — and,  withal,  an 
advancement  of  the  original  idea.  If  every  natural  object 
shadowed  forth,  more  or  less  distinctly,  the  Supreme  Divinity, 
much  more  would  God's  noblest  work — the  image  of  himself. 
Man  would  become  a  yet  more  striking  object  of  high  and 
ceaseless  admiration.  Yet  not  man  in  his  fallen  degenerate 
state,  but  man  as  he  symbolizes  the  Great  Prototype — man 
when  viewed  at  so  great  a  distance  or  at  so  commanding  a 
height  as  to  obscure  what  of  human  imperfection  there  is  about 
him,  and  at  the  same  time  to  magnify  all  there  is  divine  in  him, 
and  all  that  imagination  chooses  to  supply. 

The  worship  of  the  Christian's  God   is   hero-worship — a 


398          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING, 

heartfelt  prostration — love,  fear,  boundless  admiration  and 
obedience  to  the  man  of  Nazareth.  Discovered  as  the  "  bright- 
ness of  his  Father's  glory  and  the  express  image  of  his  per- 
son," he  is  to  the  Christian  the  one  among  ten  thousand — alto- 
gether lovely — the  hero  of  his  heart,  the  fit  object  of  all 
adoration  and  praise. 

But  we  have  discovered  a  germ  of  the  same  root  far,  far 
back,  beyond  the  long  night  of  ages  on  which  the  day-spring 
from  on  high  arose. 

As  a  matter  of  philosophy,  Christianity  is  not  a  new  relig- 
ion. Christ  was  in  reality,  and  in  fall-orbed  perfection,  what 
the  early  sages  among  mankind  dimly  portrayed  in  their  hero- 
gods.  Guided  by  the  dim  starlight  which  Heaven  then  afforded 
them,  they  clothed  their  heroes  with  such  attributes  as  seemed 
to  them  divine ;  they  made  them  godlike  and  worshipped  them 
as  gods.  It  was  not  Thor  (the  thunderer — the  hero — giant  or 
man)  whom  they  worshipped,  but  the  Mighty  One  who  thun- 
dered— the  Great  Unknown,  who  shook  the  earth  with  his 
power.* 

As  an  example  of  this  I  might  refer  the  reader  to  the  well 
known  incarnations  of  Vishnoo  of  Hindoo  mythology,  in  which 
he  will  scarcely  fail  to  discover  the  true  idea  of  an  incarnation 
of  the  Deity.  But  we  are  furnished  with  a  more  striking 
illustration  in  the  case  of  Osiris,  the  celebrated  hero-god  of 
the  Egyptians.  This  Deity,  about  whom  clustered  all  the  hopes 
of  immortality,  was  fabled  to  have  slept  in  death  and  to  have 
risen  triumphant  over  the  powers  of  evil.  He  was  acknowl- 

• 
*  The  writer  acknowledges  indebtedness,  in  these  paragraphs,   to 

Hero-worship,  by  Thomas  Carlyle. 


OSIEIS   THE   HEKO-GOD    OF   EGYPT.  399 

edged  as  the  God  to  be  worshipped  throughout  the  great  valley 
of  the  Nile.  • 

There  is  something  singular  in  the  history  of  this  Incarna- 
tion. Osiris  is  the  Messiah  of  the  old  Egyptian  religion,  and, 
it  is  remarkable  how  many  of  the  attributes  of  the  true  Mes- 
siah are  made  to  appear  in  him.  The  oath  taken  in  his  name 
was  the  most  inviolable  of  all  oaths.  He  was  the  Judge  of  the 
living  and  the  dead.  Goodness  was  his  primary  attribute ; 
and  that  Goodness  was  displayed  in  his  leaving  the  abodes  of 
Paradise,  taking  a  human  form,  going  about  doing  good,  and 
then  sinking  into  death  in  a  conflict  with  evil,  that  he  might 
rise  again  to  spread  blessings  over  the  world,  and  be  rewarded 
with  the  office  of  Judge  of  the  living  and  the  dead.  Osiris  is 
called  the  "  Grace  Manifester  "— "  Truth  Eevealer  "—"Opener 
of  Good."  The  ancient  records  speak  of  him,  too,  as  "  full  of 
grace  and  truth."  He  was  the  Supreme  God  in  Egypt,  and 
the  only  one  whose  name  was  never  pronounced. 

In  all  these  points  there  is  certainly  a  very  singular  as- 
similarity  of  attributes — life,  death  and  resurrection — with 
that  of  the  Christian's  Messiah.  But  whence  this  assimila- 
tion ?  Perchance,  it  may  be  replied,  Abraham  had  clear  con- 
ceptions of  Him  who  was  to  come,  and  he  communicated  this 
knowledge  to  the  Egyptians  on  his  first  visit  there.  But  before 
Abraham's  day,  this  singular  ritual  of  Osiris  was  known  and 
celebrated.  "  Tombs  as  old  as  the  Pyramids  declare  all  this." 
Others  trace  this  knowledge  through  a  channel  further  back. 
Are  not  these  the  indelible  traces  of  Noah's  preaching  on  the 
mind  of  the  world  ?  Noah  was  a  "  preacher  of  righteousness." 
His  immediate  posterity,  acquainted  no  doubt  with  the  revela- 
tions already  made  concerning  the  Messiah,  settled  in  Egypt, 


400  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   GREAT  KING. 

became  the  founders  of  an  empire  there — the  compilers  of  their 
sacred  books  and  originators  of  their  religious  system.  There 
is,  perhaps,  no  such  thing  as  a  religion  founded  on  absolute 
falsehood.  All  false  religions,  as  I  have  said,  are  the  perver- 
sions of  a  true  religion.  The  religion  of  ancient  Egypt  was 
undoubtedly  made  up  of  such  religious  notions  as  were  extant 
at  the  time,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  so  prominent  an  element 
of  the  true  religion  should  be  found  incorporated  in  this  ancient 
system. 

But  all  this  was  physical  religion — at  least  but  intellectual — 
involving  little  or  nothing  of  the  moral  element.  It  worshipped 
a  Natural  Divinity — a  God  of  strength,  valor,  prowess,  the 
Grand  Architect  and  Garnisher  of  the  heavens — the  Thunderer 
— the  Great  Man — the  Hero  or  Great  Spirit.  And  the  wor- 
shipper spends  himself  in  wonder  and  admiration — perhaps  in 
praise.  God  is  made  to  appear  in  his  mighty  power  rather 
than  in  his  infinite  mercy. 

Not  till  a  much  later  period  do  we  find  the  moral  element 
introduced  into  Eeligious  Beliefs.  That  the  Divine  Power 
which  they  worshipped  had  a  moral  basis — that  God  is  a  moral 
Governor,  and  men  subjects  of  a  moral  Government,  they 
did  not  discover.  The  introduction  of  this  element  was  an  ad- 
vanced step  in  the  history  of  religion — the  result  of  a  special 
revelation.  How  much  of  the  moral  was  introduced  into 
these  early  systems  from  revelations  made  to  the  patriarchs 
and  early  prophets,  we  cannot  determine.  True  it  is  that  the 
darkness  of  human  depravity  soon  overshadowed  the  fairest  of 
these  forms  of  belief.  The  light  in  them  became  darkness — 
and  we  now  can  only  discover  what  in  them  was  true,  by  its 
counterfeit ;  seeing  the  spurious  coin  we  judge  of  the  genuine. 


JUDAISM  NOT  A   NEW   RELIGION.  401 

In  the  progress  of  Religious  Belief,  I  said,  came  Judaism 
— not  a  new  Religion,  but  a  new  dispensation  of  the  ancient 
Faith,  clothed  in  new  light  and  the  moral  element  more  dis- 
tinctly marked.  Moses  was  not  an  originator,  but  a  compiler. 
The  beggarly  elements  of  the  world  were  now  clothed  in  a 
celestial  dress.  The  physical  yielded  to  the  moral.  God 
revealed  himself  as  the  Moral  Governor.  The  scattered  rays 
of  light  which  had  hitherto  done  little  more  among  the  na- 
tions than  to  make  the  surrounding  darkness  visible,  now  con- 
centrated on  Sinai,  burst  forth  from  the  terrific  cloud  with  all 
the  vividness  of  a  new  revelation  and  all  the  terribleness  of 
the  divine  Majesty,  challenging  the  homage  and  love  of  a 
rebellious  race.  These  collected  rays  were  woven  into  a 
beam,  which  we  call  the  divine  law.  What  of  God  had  been 
but  indistinctly  shadowed  forth  in  nature,  or  imperfectly  re- 
vealed to  the  Patriarchs,  was  now  clearly  made  known.  His 
moral  character  was  made  to  stand  out  in  bold  relief;  of  which 
his  law  was  made  the  transcript.  Doctrines,  duties,  precepts 
were  of  consequence  marked  with  equal  clearness.  It  was  a 
new  and  vastly  improved  edition  of  any  previous  system  of 
faith.  It  was  truth  developed,  defined,  emancipated  as  coming 
from  the  hands  of  the  Patriarchs  to  whom  God  had  intrusted 
the  clearest  revelations  of  himself — or  Truth  rescued  from  the 
the  abuse,  corruption  and  darkness  into  which  it  had  fallen  in 
the  hands  of  surrounding  pagan  nations. 

An  imposing  ceremonial — new  only  in  its  form,  was  now 
adopted.  Here  again  Moses  was  not  the  originator.  Most  of 
the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Levitical  Law  were  already  in 
vogue.  Moses  collected  the  scattered  fragments  and  wrote 
them  in  a  Book — reduced  a  distracted  ceremonial  to  order — 


402  THE   PALACE   OF   THE   GREAT   KING. 

defined  the  number,  circumstances  and  uses  of  such  rites  as 
God  approved,  instituted  an  order  of  men  who  should  take 
charge  of  this  department,  designated  the  persons  who  should 
hold  this  office,  and  made  the  whole  more  clearly  significant. 
It  now  became  a  system  with  an  officiating  priesthood  and  a 
law,  all  setting  forth  a  Messiah  who  should  come. 

I  have  said  there  was,  originally,  truth  in  the  old  systems 
of  Paganism  :  originally  founded  in  truth — much  of  reality  in 
them — a  worship  of  God  as  they  knew  Him — or  through  the 
sources  by  which  he  revealed  himself  to  them.  But  times 
change.  What  was  true  became  in  a  sense  false.  Further 
revelations  gave, men  higher  views  of  God  on  the  one  hand — 
and  further  developments  of  human  depravity  led  men  to  lose 
sight  of  God  in  the  objects  they  worshipped  as  true  emblems 
of  the  Divinity,  and  to  worship  these  objects  themselves. 

The  old  systems  existed  for  a  purpose — answered  that 
purpose — lasted  or  will  last  till  the  good  and  true  is  transfused 
into  the  new,  and  then  will  die,  having  done  the  work  of  their 
generation. 

The  design  of  Judaism,  (or  of  Christianity,)  therefore,  in  her 
indignant  denunciation  of  Paganism,  is  not  the  condemnation 
of  the  truth  which  was  there,  but  it  is  to  bring  religion  back  to 
that  truth — and  not  that  truth  only,  but  to  ttiat  truth  as  ex- 
panded, and  cleared  from  the  dross  of  error ;  and  its  boun- 
daries enlarged  by  the  rich  accessions  of  all  subsequent  reve- 
lations. New  mines  were  opened,  richer  and  more  abundant, 
and  yet  all  the  pure  gold  of  the  old  ones  was  carefully  pre- 
served and  worked  into  the  new  Tabernacle. 

But  the  general  views  taken  in  the  foregoing  treatise  supply, 
in  this  connection,  another  closing  thought.  It  is  that  we 


THE   ONE   COMMON   RELIGION.  403 

discover  herein,  reasons  for  one  common  and  universal  Religion, 
which  shall  finally  pervade  every  human  heart,  and  inclose  in 
its  broad  fold  the  entire  family  of  man. 

All  nature  proclaims  such  a  consummation  for  man  ;  and  in 
equal  distinctness  proclaims  Christianity  to  be  such  a  Eeligion. 
It  is,  as  no  other  religion,  adapted  to  man's  wants,  to  his 
progress  and  to  his  full  development,  whether  it  be  in  this 
life  or  in  the  life  to  come.  It  is  under  the  auspices  of  this 
form  of  religion  that  mind  is  quickened  and  matured  and 
made  to  subserve  the  great  purposes  of  human  advancement — 
that  human  genius  is  set  on  the  alert  of  invention  and  discovery 
— that  the  powers  of  nature  are  evolved,  applied  and  appro- 
priated to  man's  use  and  progress.  It  is  this  form  of  religion 
which  addresses  itself  to  the  heart,  and  cultivates  the  moral 
feelings,  and  evolves  and  applies  the  moral  powers  of  man.  It 
addresses  itself  to  the  whole  man,  develops  all  his  powers,  and 
fits  him  for  his  full  and  final  destiny. 

It  is  a  service,  adoration  and  praise  paid  to  the  God  of 
nature.  It  is  a  supreme  veneration  of  the  Power  that  made 
the  world,  and  keeps  every  star  in  its  course,  and  manages  the 
great  universal  machine  as  he  pleases.  It  is  the  supreme  ad- 
miration of  the  Wisdom  which  devises,  adjusts,  preserves  and 
adapts  all  things  so  as  to  secure  the  whole  against  a  single 
failure,  and  to  bring  out  of  the  whole  the  great  and  benevolent 
end  designed.  It  is  the  "  transcendent  wonder  "  of  the  love 
and  benevolence  of  God  in  so  forming,  controlling  and  adjust- 
ing all  things  as  to  bring  good  out  of  the  whole.  No  poison 
is  so  venomous  that  it  is  not  made  to  yield  a  sweet ;  ,no  cloud 
so  dark,  no  tempest  so  devastating,  no  providential  dispensation 
so  disastrous  that  it  yields  not  in  the  end  some  permanent  and 
substantial  good. 


404          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

In  the  highest  possible  sense,  then,  the  Keligion  of  Christ  is 
a  Natural  Keligion.  Did  we  need  further  proof  of  this  we 
should  find  it  in  its  peculiar  adaptations  to  the  social  and  civil 
progress  of  man.  It  is  this  form  of  religion,  which,  either  in 
its  more  immediate  bearings,  or  in  its  remoter  outgoings,  is 
revolutionizing  the  world.  It  has  made  the  earth  to  disgorge 
its  mineral  wealth,  and  has  molded  it  into  every  conceivable 
utensil,  tool,  or  machine  that  can  contribute  to  human  progress. 
It  has,  in  the  form  of  modern  commerce,  traversed  every  sea, 
made  nations  neighbors,  increased  beyond  all  precedent  the 
wealth  of  the  world,  checkered  every  land  with  Kailways  and 
Telegraphs,  and  conveyed  abroad  the  messengers  of  the  cross 
and  all  the  means  and  appliances  for  the  universal  diffusion  of 
the  gospel.  It  has  translated  the  Bible  into  almost  every 
foreign  tongue,  and  given  a  power  and  ubiquity  to  the  Press 
quite  unknown  in  the  world  before.  It  is  the  author  of  all 
the  freedom  in  the  world — the  founder  of  all  constitutional 
government ;  and  it  has  pervaded  the  world  at  large  with  a 
higher  degree  of  intelligence,  and  the  diffusion  of  the  higher 
type  of  civilization  which  now  blesses  the  world.  And  what 
but  the  expansive,  rousing,  enterprising  spirit  infused  by 
Christianity  has  so  stimulated  the  migratory  instincts  of  men 
at  the  present  day  ?  These  are  indicative  of  the  no-distant 
advances  which  await  our  race — precursive  of  the  breaking-up 
of  old  reclusive  habits  of  the  species,  and  introductory  of  a 
system  by  which  different  branches  of  the  human  family  be- 
come better  known  to  each  other,  and  by  an  interchange  of 
sentiments  and  thoughts,  as  well  as  of  the  commodities  of 
commerce,  they  contribute  to  a  mutual  and  indefinite  advance- 
ment. 


CHEISTIANITY   MADE   FOR   MAN.  405 

Christianity,  as  its  most  obvious  impress  indicates,  and  its 
most  spontaneous  workings  everywhere  vouch,  was  made  for 
man — for  man  in  his  expansion  into  a  full  manhood — for  man 
as  the  proprietor  and  controller  of  all  the  powers  and  resources 
of  nature  as  placed  at  his  disposal  for  his  advancement,  wheth- 
er physical,  mental  or  religious,  and  the  realization  of  all  he 
is  promised,  and  all  he  is  capable  of  here  or  hereafter. 

No  other  religion  has  ever  exercised  in  the  world  this  trans- 
forming power — no  other  contains  in  itself,  the  elements  of  such 
transformations.  False  religions  are  local  in  their  character — 
temporary  in  duration,  and  mercenary  in  their  application,  and 
degrading  and  oppressive  in  proportion  as  their  spirit  pervades 
the  hearts  and  minds  of  their  votaries.  They  are  most 
obviously  made  for  the  priest,  the  king  and  the  devil,  and  not 
for  the  people — not  for  the  expansion  of  the  human  mind — 
not  for  the  cultivation  of  the  human  heart — not  to  elevate 
society,  cherish  freedom,  define  and  protect  human  rights,  or 
bless  the  race. 

There  are  two  features  of  our  religion  which,  contemplated 
in  the  present  connection,  commend  it  as  a  religion  especially 
for  man.  They  are  its  social  character,  and  its  teaching 
ministry.  In  these  two  features  it  differs,  essentially,  from 
all  false  religions,  and  challenges  its  claims  to  universal  regard 
and  adoption  by  the  whole  family  of  man.  In  proportion  as  a 
religion  is  spurious  it  substitutes  a  ritual  for  a  sermon ;  a 
ceremonial  and  a  solitary  worship  for  the  social  and  public 
worship  of  the  sanctuary — penance  for  repentance ;  and  the 
dogmas  of  priests  for  the  simple  teachings  of  the  word  of 
God. 

We  ask  not  for  a  more  satisfactory  commendation  of  Chris- 


406  THE   PALACE    OF   THE   GKEAT   KING. 

tianity,  triumphantly  vindicating  its  claims  to  universality, 
than  the  simple  fact  that  it  so  exactly  meets  the  nature  and  the 
wants  of  man.  Were  man  an  isolated  being — not  connected 
with  or  dependent  on  his  fellows,  and  had  he  not  with  them 
common  interests  as  touching  the  things  of  religion  and  a 
common  object  of  worship,  he  might  then  with  more  propriety 
talk  of  a  solitary  religion — another  religion — that  should  excuse 
him  from  the  duties  of  the  common  or  social  religion.  But 
man  is  not  an  isolated  being.  So  constructed  is  he  in  his 
original  workmanship,  and  so  circumstanced  is  he  in  this  world, 
that  he  is  as  much  dependent  on  his  fellow-beings  for  the  full 
and  proper  development  and  use  of  his  religious  affections  and 
the  profitable  discharge  of  his  religious  duties,  as  he  is  for  the 
expansion  and  improvement  of  his  mental  powers,  or  for  the 
comfortable  subsistence  of  his  body.  Our  religious  nature  can- 
not develop  itself  in  solitude — though  religion  has  much  to  do 
with  solitude,  with  the  secret  communings  with  the  heart,  with 
solitary  communion  with  God.  Yet  religion  is  a  thing  suited 
to  man  as  we  find  him  in  all  his  relationships  in  life — man  as 
a  social  being — man  as  absorbed  in  business  or  borne  down 
with  labor  or  immersed  in  care— man  as  he  sails  on  the  smooth 
sea  of  prosperity  with  canvas'  full  and  every  breeze  propitious 
— or  man  as  plunged  beneath  the  billows  of  adversity.  Hence 
sympathy,  gratitude,  kindness,  love,  patience,  benevolence  are 
no  virtues  at  all  if  disconnected  with  the  objects  on  which,  or 
towards  which  they  are  to  be  exercised.  Benevolence  supposes 
a  giver ;  gratitude  a  receiver ;  sympathy  an  object  to  be  felt 
for ;  patience  one  to  be  borne  with ;  love  an  object  of  affection ; 
kindness  and  pity  imply  objects  of  compassion.  But  these 
when  properly  exercised  are  all  religious  affections. 


THE   DIVIItfE   PRESCIENCE   COMPLETE.  40 7 

Children  as  we  are  of  the  same  common-  parent — depend- 
ents one  on  another  as  the  members  of  the  same  household, 
and  heirs  to  the  same  wants  and  woes,  we  have  grounds  for 
common  sympathies,  for  the  exercise  of  affections  in  common  ; 
we  have  one  common  object  of  worship — our  ends  and  aims 
are  one — our  hopes  and  fears. 

It  is  the  same  God  that  waters  all  our  fields — that  makes 
his  sun  mature  our  fruits — that  sits  over  our  several  dwellings 
and  preserves  our  households  from  alarm,  from  fire,  from  plague, 
disease  and  death.  And  where  is  the  household  who  would 
be  so  ungrateful,  so  impious  as  not  to  acknowledge,  by  an  act 
of  public  recognition,  their  public  Friend  and  Benefactor. 

And  here  we  have  an  argument,  did  we  need  one,  why  all 
men,  everywhere,  and  as  often  as  the  appointed  day  returns, 
should  assemble  in  the  place  appointed  for  the  worship  of  God. 

Strange  it  were,  if  fellow-travellers  to  eternity- — if  men  of 
like  wants  and  woes,  of  like  hopes  and  fears — with  the  same 
difficulties  to  overcome,  the  same  passions  to. subdue,  the  same 
temptations  to  meet — the  same  road  to  travel  and  the  same 
end  to  obtain,  should  not  feel  the  need  of,  and  should  not,  in 
the  sanctuary,  be  able  to  acquire  much  common  instruction. 
Important  as  the  topics  of  instruction  are  in  our  seminaries  of 
learning,  they  fall  into  utter  insignificance  when  compared  with 
the  topics  which  occupy  the  attention  during  the  hours  of  di- 
vine worship.  What  is  time  to  eternity — things  seen  and 
temporal  to  things  unseen  and  eternal  ?  What  is  the  meat 
that  perishes,  the  riches  that  vanish  away  like  a  dream — the 
pleasures  that  deceive,  the  honors  that  fade,  the  life  that  is 
but  a  vapor,  to  the  bread  of  heaven,  to  the  riches,  pleasures 
and  honors  which  will  bloom  in  eternal  youth — to  the  life 


408          THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GREAT  KING. 

which  shall  never  cease  ?  What  is  earth  to  heaven — what  all 
that  pertains  to  earth  to  that  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory  prepared  for  them  who  love  God. 

Such  are  but  the  every-day  themes  of  instruction  in  the 
sanctuary.  Here  the  science  of  immortality  is  taught — the 
art  of  transmuting  the  vile  metals  of  earth  into  eternal  gold — 
of  prolonging  a  happy  existence  throughout  an  endless  eter- 
nity, is  inculcated.  Are  you  oppressed  with  the  cares  of  the 
world — is  your  soul  cast  down  amidst  it  afflictions — do  you 
labor  and  feel  yourself  heavy-laden  ?  A  voice  from  the  sanc- 
tuary says :  "  The  Lord  hear  thee  in  the  day  of  trouble  ;  the 
name  of  the  God  of  Jacob  defend  thee.  Send  thee  help  from 
the  sanctuary,  and  strengthen  thee  out  of  Zion"  Does  his 
soul  famish  amidst  the  husks  of  this  poor  world,  and  long  for 
more  substantial  meat  I  Again  a  voice  of  encouragement  comes 
from  the  sanctuary :  "  We  shall  be  satisfied  with  the  goodness 
of  thy  house,  even  of  thy  holy  Temple" 


THE   END. 


Err 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

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